Isaiah 49:16

Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
graven	חַקֹּתִ֑יךְ cha.ko.Tikh	H2710	properly · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
hands	כַּפַּ֖יִם ka.Pa.yim	H3709	the hollow hand or palm (so of the paw of an animal · noun, common feminine dual absolute
walls	חוֹמֹתַ֥יִךְ cho.mo.Ta.yikh	H2346	a wall of protection · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
continually	תָּמִֽיד ta.Mid	H8548	properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Haggai 2:23 In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee a…
Isaiah 60:18 Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy ga…
Isaiah 62:6 I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep no…
Song of Solomon 8:6 Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof…
Exodus 13:9 And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the LORD’s law may be in thy mouth: for wi…
Isaiah 26:1 In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.
Psalms 48:12-13 Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof.
Isaiah 54:12 And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 49:13-17

The scope of these verses is to show that the return of the people of God out of their captivity, and the eternal redemption to be wrought out by Christ (of which that was a type), would be great occasions of joy to the church and great proofs of the tender care God has of the church. I. Nothing can furnish us with better matter for songs of praise and thanksgiving, Isa 49:13. Let the whole creation join with us in songs of joy, for it shares with us in the benefits of the redemption, and all they can contribute to this sacred melody is little enough in return for such inestimable favours, Psa 96:11. Let there be joy in heaven, and let the angels of God celebrate the praises of the great Red…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 49:16

Alluding to the Jews' custom (perhaps drawn from Exo 13:9) of puncturing on their hands a representation of their city and temple, in token of zeal for them [LOWTH], (Sol 8:6).

John Gill on Isaiah 49:16

Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands,.... Not upon his thick clouds, the clouds of heaven under him, always in view, as R. Saadiah Gaon, mentioned by Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Kimchi: much better the Targum, "lo, as upon the hands thou art engraven before me;'' signifying that his people were always in his sight, his eyes were ever upon them, and never withdrawn from them; as anything held in the hand, or tied to or wore upon it, as a signet or ring that has the name of a person on it, to which the allusion may be; which shows how near and dear they are to him, what affection he has for them, and care of them; see Sol 8:6. Some think respect is had to the wounds in the hands…

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John Calvin on Isaiah 49:16

Behold, on the palms of my hands. By another cormparison he describes that inconceivable carefulness which the Lord exercises toward us. It is a common proverb, that "we have it on our fingers' ends," when we have anything fully and deeply fixed on our memory. And Moses when he recommends constant meditation on the Law, says, "Thou shalt bind them for a sign on thy hand;" that is, that they should always have the commandments of God placed before their eyes. (Deuteronomy 6:8.) He now makes use of the same comparison; as if he had said, "I cannot look at my hands without beholding thee in them; I carry thee engraved on my heart, so that no forgetfulness can efface thee; in a word, I cannot fo…

The Church Fathers

Let us flee these evils and elevate our soul to the image and likeness of God. The flight from evils is the likeness of God, and the image of God is gained through the virtues. And so, like a painter, he has painted us with the colors of the virtues. "See, I have painted your walls, Jerusalem." Let us not wipe away with the brush of neglect the props of the painted walls of our soul.
— Ambrose of Milan, DEATH AS A GOOD 5:17

He bore our sins in his body on the cross, and as he lay there, we were saved, and his sufferings became for us like a safe place and a protecting wall. He suffered outside the city so that he could sanctify the people with his own blood. Therefore … the suffering of Christ and his precious cross and the nailing of his hands became safety and an impregnable wall without any breach for those who believe in him. Thus he says, "I have painted your walls on my hands." … And if one wants to understand this in another way, I think it makes sense to understand it that all who believe in Christ are in the hands of the Father.… The walls of the spiritual Zion are the holy prophets and apostles as ones written on his hands, set there by God and having the knowledge of him that does not fade. For their names were written in the heavens and included in the book of life.
— Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 4:4.49:16-17

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Church — Derived probably from the Greek kuriakon (i.e., “the Lord’s house”), which was used by ancient authors for the place of worship. In the New Testament it is the translation of the Greek word ecclesia,…
Isaiah, Book Of — I. Chapters 1-5 contain Isaiah’s prophecies in the reigns of Uzziah and Jotham, foretelling that the present prosperity of Judah should be destroyed, and that Israel should be brought to desolation.…
Arts Of The · Engraver — Engraver
Breastplate · Worn as a memorial — Worn as a memorial
Hands, The · Parts of, mentioned: The palm — Parts of, mentioned: The palm
Jews, The · God, mindful of — God, mindful of
Love Of God, The · Described as: Unfailing — Described as: Unfailing

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Isaiah 49:16

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 49:13-17

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 49:16

John Gill on Isaiah 49:16

John Calvin on Isaiah 49:16

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Isaiah 49:16

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 49:13-17

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 49:16

John Gill on Isaiah 49:16

John Calvin on Isaiah 49:16

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Isaiah 49:14-16

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Isaiah 49:14

Rashi on Isaiah 49:16