Isaiah 56:3 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 56:3
Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal jussive, 3rd person masculine singular
saying
לֵאמֹ֔רle.Mor
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
LORD
יְהוָ֖הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
utterly
הַבְדֵּ֧לhav.Del
H914
to divide (in variation senses literally or figuratively · verb, hiphil infinitive absolute
separated
יַבְדִּילַ֛נִיyav.di.La.ni
H914
to divide (in variation senses literally or figuratively · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix
people
עַמּ֑וֹa.Mo
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
eunuch
הַסָּרִ֔יסha.sa.Ris
H5631
a eunuch · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
say
יֹאמַר֙yo.Mar
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal jussive, 3rd person masculine singular
dry
יָבֵֽשׁya.Vesh
H3002
dry · adjective, masculine singular absolute
tree
עֵ֥ץ'etz
H6086
a tree (from its firmness) · 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).
Matthew 19:12-30 For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother’s womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and the…
Acts 10:34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:
Numbers 18:4 And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the tabernacle: and a…
Numbers 18:7 Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest’s office for every thing of the altar, and within the vail; and ye shall serve:…
Isaiah 14:1 For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with th…
Isaiah 39:7 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the kin…
Isaiah 56:5 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 ev…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 56:3-8
The prophet is here, in God's name, encouraging those that were hearty in joining themselves to God and yet laboured under great discouragements. 1. Some were discouraged because they were not of the seed of Abraham. They had joined themselves to the Lord, and bound their souls with a bond to be his for ever (this is the root and life of religion, to break off from the world and the flesh, and devote ourselves entirely to the service and honour of God); but they questioned whether God would accept them, because they were of the sons of the stranger, Isa 56:3. They were Gentiles, strangers to the commonwealth of Israel and aliens from the covenants of promise, and therefore feared they had no…
God welcomes all believers, without distinction of persons, under the new economy (Act 10:34-35).
joined . . . to . . . Lord-- (Num 18:4, Num 18:7). "Proselytes."
separated--Proselytes from the Gentiles were not admitted to the same privileges as native Israelites. This barrier between Jews and Gentiles was to be broken down (Eph 2:14-16).
eunuch-- (Act 8:27, &c.). Eunuchs were chamberlains over harems, or court ministers in general.
dry tree--barren (compare Luk 23:31); not admissible into the congregation of Israel (Deu 23:1-3). Under the Gospel the eunuch and stranger should be released from religious and civil disabilities.
Adam Clarke on Isaiah 56:2
That keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it - Kimchi has an excellent note here. "The Sabbath is sanctified when it is distinguished in dignity; and separated from other days.
1. As to the body, in meat, drink, and clean clothing.
2. As to the soul, that it be empty of worldly occupations, and be busily employed in the words of the law and wisdom, and in meditation on the works of the Lord."
The rabbins say, "Jerusalem had never been destroyed, had not the Sabbaths been profaned in it."
John Gill on Isaiah 56:3
Neither let the son of the stranger,.... A Gentile, that is so by birth, the son of one that is an alien from the commonwealth of Israel, a stranger from the covenants of promise, and so had no right to come into the congregation of the Lord under the former dispensation; but now the middle wall of partition being broken down, in the times to which this prophecy belongs, such are encouraged to expect admission:
that hath joined himself to the Lord; who, having a spiritual knowledge of him in Christ, loves him, believes in him, gives up himself to him, to walk in his ways and ordinances, and cleaves unto him with full purpose of heart; see Isaiah 44:5 such an one should not speak,
saying, t…
The Church Fathers
Those who please me are those who choose to be eunuchs voluntarily.… Who can receive this teaching, let him receive it. It is a matter of great faith and great virtue to be the purest kind of temple of God, in that one dedicates oneself completely to the Lord as a burnt offering and to be holy in body as well as spirit. Those are eunuchs who, thinking themselves to be "dry trees" because of their infertility, hear through Isaiah that instead of sons and daughters they will have a place prepared in heaven. Of this sort were Ebedmelech in Jeremiah and that eunuch of Queen Candace.
The stranger who comes before the Lord should not say, "The Lord will surely cut me off from his people." For it will not be because he is foreign in the sense of not having Israelite blood therefore that he will be without a share in the gifts from the Lord, the intimate and spiritual relationship with him. But if he clings to the Lord in his domestic affairs and his friendships, he will be made to belong in the holy people and to the royal priesthood and to the inheritance of God. He will be numbered among the children of Abraham. For not all from Israel are Israel as most-wise Paul said: not all the progeny are the seed of Abraham, but the children of the promise are reckoned as descendants.
(Verse 3.) And let not the son of the stranger, who adheres to the Lord, say, 'The Lord will surely separate me from His people.' And let not the eunuch say, 'Behold, I am a dry tree.' LXX: Neither let the foreigner, who is joined to the Lord, say, 'The Lord will surely separate me from His people.' And let not the eunuch say, 'I am a dry tree.' Those who understand this passage humbly refer it to proselytes from the nations and truly to eunuchs, as it is said that even strangers, if they receive the law of the Lord and are circumcised, and eunuchs, like the eunuch of Queen Candace (Acts 8), who could not even be idle on a journey, and while he was seeking an interpreter of the reading, found Christ whom he was seeking, may not be excluded from the salvation of God. But this, they say, is said against the Jews, who boast of the nobility of their lineage, and claim to be descendants of Abraham, and believe those to be blessed who have offspring in Zion and dwellers in Jerusalem (John VIII). But we, who were previously interpreted as thorns and thistles and κονύζη and στοιβὴν (Above, to chapter LV), we now understand to be turned into fir trees, cypresses, and myrtle trees, and the same people are being challenged in regard to the faith of the Gospel: which they should not despair of, as long as they adhere to the Lord; and they should not consider themselves separated from God's people. For all who have been baptized in Christ have clothed themselves with Christ (Galatians 3:27). There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, nor free, but Christ is all and in all (Colossians 3:11). And it is written in Deuteronomy: Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people, that is, the God who had the prior people of the Jews (Deuteronomy 33:43). Those who come from the East and West will rest in the bosom of Abraham. This is what John the Baptist also said: And do not say, we have Abraham as our father. For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham (Matthew 3:9). And just as there is no distinction among proselytes, both men and women are equally called to salvation; so also in eunuchs who have castrated themselves for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, both sexes are accepted; those who have mortified their members upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire,…
Dictionary and topics
Chamberlain — A confidential servant of the king (Gen. 37:36; 39:1). In Rom. 16:23 mention is made of “Erastus the chamberlain.” Here the word denotes the treasurer of the city, or the quaestor, as the Romans…
Proselyte — Is used in the LXX. for “stranger” (1 Chr. 22:2), i.e., a comer to Palestine; a sojourner in the land (Ex. 12:48; 20:10; 22:21), and in the New Testament for a convert to Judaism. There were such…
Eunuch · Prohibited from certain privileges of the congregation — Prohibited from certain privileges of the congregation
Gentiles · PROPHECIES OF THE CONVERSION OF — PROPHECIES OF THE CONVERSION OF
Proselytes · Described — Described
Trees · Illustrative: (Dry,) of useless persons — Illustrative: (Dry,) of useless persons
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).
And let not the son who is a foreigner [96] say. The Prophet shows that this grace of God shall be such that even they who formerly were estranged from him, and against whom the door might be said to have been shut, may obtain a new condition, or may be perfectly restored. And he meets their complaint, that they may not say that they are rejected, or unworthy, or "foreigners," or excluded by any mark; for the Lord will remove every obstacle. This may refer both to Jews, who had been brought into a condition similar to that of foreign nations by a temporary rejection, and to the heathen nations themselves. For my own part, I willingly extend it to both, that it may agree with the prediction o…
The אשרי (blessed) of Isa 56:2 is now extended to those who might imagine that they had no right to console themselves with the promises which it contained. "And let not the foreigner, who hath not joined himself to Jehovah, speak thus: Assuredly Jehovah will cut me off from His people; and let not the eunuch say, I am only a dry tree." As נלוה is not pointed as a participle (נלוה), but as a 3rd pers. pres., the ה of הנּלוה is equivalent to אשׁר, as in Jos 10:24; Gen 18:21; Gen 21:3; Gen 46:27; Kg1 11:9 (Ges. 109). By the eunuchs we are to understand those of Israelitish descent, as the attributive clause is not repeated in their case. Heathen, who professed the religion of Jehovah, and had…
The blessing (56:2) would extend to eunuchs and to the Gentiles.
56:3 Foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord would become full participants in the covenant community. Previously, their participation had been carefully regulated (Deut 23:3, 7-8). • eunuchs: In the past, an emasculated person was excluded from the community (Deut 23:1). Both eunuchs and foreigners had no share in Israel’s holiness and were considered marginal to God’s kingdom. In the age to come, God would bring to the center those who had previously been marginalized (cp. Matt 20:16).
Rashi on Isaiah 56:3
“The Lord will surely separate me from His people,” Why should I become converted? Will not the Holy One, blessed be He, separate me from His people when He pays their reward.
Let not the eunnuch say Why should I better my ways and my deeds? I am like a withered tree, for lack of remembrance.