Isaiah 49:23 - meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 49:23
And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.
properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
queens
וְשָׂרֽוֹתֵיהֶם֙ve.sa.ro.tei.Hem
H8282
a mistress · conjunction + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
mothers
מֵינִ֣יקֹתַ֔יִךְmei.Ni.ko.Ta.yikh
H3243
to suck · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
down
יִשְׁתַּ֣חֲווּyish.Ta.cha.vu
H7812
to depress · verb, hithpael imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
face
אַפַּ֗יִם'a.Pa.yim
H639
properly · noun, common masculine dual absolute
earth
אֶ֚רֶץ'E.retz
H776
the earth (at large · noun, common feminine singular absolute
up
יְלַחֵ֑כוּye.la.Che.khu
H3897
to lick · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
dust
וַעֲפַ֥רva.'a.Far
H6083
dust (as powdered or gray) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct
feet
רַגְלַ֖יִךְrag.La.yikh
H7272
a foot (as used in walking) · noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
know
וְיָדַ֙עַתְּ֙ve.ya.Da.'at
H3045
to know (properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 2nd person feminine singular
LORD
יְהוָ֔הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
ashamed
יֵבֹ֖שׁוּye.Vo.shu
H954
properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
wait
קוָֹֽיko.Vai
H6960
to bind together (perhaps by twisting) · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
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
Isaiah 60:14 The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the sol…
Isaiah 60:16 Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and th…
Isaiah 60:3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
Micah 7:17 They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the LORD our Go…
Isaiah 45:14 Thus saith the LORD, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and the…
Isaiah 60:10-11 And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour…
Romans 10:11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Psalms 25:3 Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 49:18-23
Two things are here promised, which were to be in part accomplished in the reviving of the Jewish church after its return out of captivity, but more fully in the planting of the Christian church by the preaching of the gospel of Christ; and we may take the comfort of these promises.
I. That the church shall be replenished with great numbers added to it. It was promised (Isa 49:17) that her children should make haste; that promise is here enlarged upon, and is made very encouraging. It is promised,
1. That multitudes shall flock to the church from all parts. Look round, and see how they gather themselves to thee (Isa 49:18), by a local accession to the Jewish church. They come to Jerusalem fr…
lick . . . dust--that is, kiss thy feet in token of humble submission.
for they . . . not . . . ashamed . . . wait for me--The restoration of Israel shall be in answer to their prayerful waiting on the Lord (Isa 30:18-19; Psa 102:16-17; Zac 12:10; Zac 14:3).
John Gill on Isaiah 49:23
And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers,.... Who shall show favour and respect to the church and people of God, grant them liberty, and protect and defend them in their religious privileges: for this is to be understood not figuratively of apostles and apostolical men, as Jerom, who are kings and priests unto God, and who feed the church with the milk of the word, and the breasts of ordinances; but literally of the kings and queens of the earth; and is thought to have had its fulfilment, at least in part, in Cyrus, Ahasuerus, Esther, and others; but more so in Christian kings and queens, as Constantine and Helena, Theodosius and Placilla, and others; and…
And kings shall be thy nursing fathers. After having spoken of the obedience of the Gentiles, he shews that this relates not to the common people only, but to "kings" also. He compares "kings" to hired men who bring up the children of others, and "queens" to "nurses," who give out their labor for hire. Why so? Because "kings" and "queens" shall supply everything that is necessary for nourishing the offspring of the Church. Having formerly driven out Christ from their dominions, they shall henceforth acknowledge him to be the supreme King: and shall render to him all honor, obedience, and worship. This took place when the Lord revealed himself to the whole world by the Gospel; for mighty king…
The Church Fathers
And all, even to our own day, stream toward Jerusalem, driven by the desire to see the three longed-for places of the cross, the resurrection and the ascension. Thus, it is from this church, gathered from across the earth and sea, that kings have become foster fathers and rulers providers of nourishment; the first offer firstfruits and the second tithes. These kings, for their part, are even granted an allocation of food for those consecrated to the God of the universe.… The rest of the passage teaches this with clarity. "With their faces to the earth, they prostrate themselves before you and lick the dust off your feet. You will know that I am the Lord." We see these things happening every day. In all the churches the faithful approach with their foreheads bowed to the ground and their lips on the doors to demonstrate their respect for God.
Then they shall bring in their arms, or on their shoulders, the sons of Zion, and her daughters shall be carried on their shoulders. Such was Lazarus, and all the saints who rest in the bosom of Abraham, and the souls of the believers, to whom the Apostle Paul spoke: I have fed you with milk.… The queen stood at your right hand in a gold embroidered garment; she nourishes Christ's little ones daily, and leads them to perfect age: and every age, sex, and dignity, will adore Zion because of Him who dwells in it. For if Christ is the head of the Church, the head is worshiped in the body. And if it is said to some: Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at the footstool of His feet (not that the footstool is to be worshiped; but that the majesty of His feet is revealed), why should not the Church, which embraces the whole body of Christ, be worshiped? And what follows: and they shall lick the dust of thy feet, signifies that kings and princes should wipe and wash away with their words whatever earthly work adheres to the feet of the Church.… Through all these things the Church learns that there is no other Lord besides Him, and those who have awaited Him will possess eternal glory.
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.…
Nurse — In ancient times the position of the nurse, wherever one was maintained, was one of much honor sad importance. See (Genesis 24:59; 36:8; 2 Samuel 4:4; 2 Kings 11:2) The same term is applied to a…
Feet, The · Subjection expressed by licking the dust of — Subjection expressed by licking the dust of
Gentiles · PROPHECIES OF THE CONVERSION OF — PROPHECIES OF THE CONVERSION OF
Jews, The · Promises respecting: Gentiles assisting in their restoration — Promises respecting: Gentiles assisting in their restoration
Kings · Should: Nourish the Church — Should: Nourish the Church
Salutations · Often accompanied by: Kissing the dust — Often accompanied by: Kissing the dust
Seekers · 5:8;8:5,6; — 5:8;8:5,6;
Waiting Upon God · They who engage in: Shall not be ashamed — They who engage in: Shall not be ashamed
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).
Such affectionate treatment does the church receive, which is assembling once more upon its native soil, whilst kings and their consorts hasten to serve the re-assembled community. "And kings become thy foster-fathers, and their princesses they nurses: they bow down their face to thee to the earth, and they lick the dust of thy feet; and thou learnest that I am Jehovah, He whose hoping ones are not put to shame." As foster-fathers devote all their strength and care to those entrusted to them, and nurses nourish children from the very marrow of their own life, so will kings become the shelterers of Zion, and princesses the sustainers of her growth. All that is true in the regal headship of th…
you will know that I am the Lord: The stunning role-reversal—kings and queens serving the lowly exiles upon their return—would reveal God’s power to do the unimaginable (see also 60:16). • The godly would experience temporary disgrace in the Exile but would not ultimately be put to shame, as the idolaters and ungodly were.
Rashi on Isaiah 49:22
My hand...My standard A signal to bring the exiles.
a standard Perka in O.F., [perche in modern French,] a pole. Comp. (supra 30:17) “And like a flagpole (וְכַנֵּס) on a hill.” It is a signal for gathering, and they place a cloth [a flag] on the end of it.
in their armpits Ajjsela [aisela] in O.F., [aisselle in modern French]. Comp. Ezra (Neh. 5:13): “Also I shook out my armpit (חָצְנִי).”
