Isaiah 66:20 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 66:20
And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD.
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
brethren
אֲחֵיכֶ֣ם'a.chei.Khem
H251
a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relation… · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
offering
מִנְחָ֣הmin.Chah
H4503
a donation · noun, common feminine singular absolute
LORD
לַֽיהוָ֡הla.Yah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · preposition + proper noun, a title
nations
הַגּוֹיִ֣םha.go.Yim
H1471
a foreign nation · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
horses
בַּסּוּסִ֡יםba.su.Sim
H5483
a horse (as leaping) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine plural 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
Isaiah 60:3-14 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
Isaiah 11:9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the s…
Isaiah 43:6 I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth;
Isaiah 56:7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be…
Isaiah 65:11 But ye are they that forsake the LORD, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink offerin…
Isaiah 65:25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall n…
Romans 15:16 That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be…
Isaiah 49:12-26 Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 66:15–end
These verses, like the pillar of cloud and fire, have a dark side towards the enemies of God's kingdom and all that are rebels against his crown, and a bright side towards his faithful loyal subjects. Probably they refer to the Jews in captivity in Babylon, of whom some are said to have been sent thither for their hurt, and with them God here threatens to proceed in his controversy; they hated to be reformed, and therefore should be ruined by the calamity (Jer 24:9); others were sent thither for their good, and they should have the trouble sanctified to them, should in due time get well through it and see many a good day after it. Many of the expressions here used are accommodated to that gl…
they--the Gentiles (Isa 66:19).
bring . . . your brethren--the Jews, back to the Holy Land (Isa 49:22). It cannot mean the mere entrance of the Jews into the Christian Church; for such an entrance would be by faith, not upon "horses, litters, and mules" [HOUBIGANT]. "Offering" is metaphorical, as in Rom 15:16.
horses--not much used by the Jews. The Gentiles are here represented as using their modes of conveyance to "bring" the Jews to Jerusalem.
chariots--as these are not found in Oriental caravans, translate, "vehicles," namely, borne, not drawn on wheels.
litters--covered sedans for the rich.
upon swift beasts--dromedaries: from Hebrew root, "to dance," from their bounding motion…
And in chariots "And in counes" - There is a sort of vehicle much used in the east, consisting of a pair of hampers or cradles, thrown across a camel's back, one on each side; in each of which a person is carried. They have a covering to defend them from the rain and the sun. Thevenot calls them counes, 1 p. 356. Maillet describes them as covered cages hanging on both sides of a camel. "At Aleppo," says Dr. Russell, "women of inferior condition in longer journeys are commonly stowed, one on each side of a mule, in a sort of covered cradles." Nat. Hist. of Aleppo, p. 89. These seem to be what the prophet means by the word צבים tsabbim. Harmer's Observations, 1 p. 445.
The Church Fathers
For like something consecrated to God, the host of the nations are given over to God's glory, released from all charges through faith and washed from all filth through holy baptism, like a guest's gift, as if given out of the apostolic fervor for God. On that account they rejoice, naming him their joy and crown. For that the return of the nations to God happens in an extremely comfortable fashion and without sweat and struggle is clearly declared in parabolic fashion when he speaks for our instruction, saying that "they will be led with horses, chariots, now with illuminations, now with shade.…"
(Verse 20.) And they shall proclaim my glory among the nations, and they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, on horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and on mules, and on carts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord. LXX: And they shall proclaim my glory among the nations, and they shall bring your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, with horses and chariots, and with litters on the backs of mules, with sunshades to the holy city Jerusalem, says the Lord. Those who have been saved and sent to various nations, and to those who have not heard or seen the glory of the Lord, will proclaim it to all nations, and will bring the brothers of the Jewish people, whose remains have been saved, as a gift to the Lord from all nations: either those who have followed the knowledge of the true God, rejecting the error of idolatry, or those who have believed from the entire world among the Israelite people. To them, the apostle Peter writes (1 Peter 1). They brought in horses, chariots, litters, mules, and wagons. As for the wagons, which Symmachus alone interpreted and which we have followed in this place, Aquila, Septuagint, and Theodotion translated them as 'mulos'. And where Septuagint placed 'cum umbraculis', which we can interpret as dormitories or sleeping chambers, others translated with the similar-sounding word 'basternas'. And when they said 'φορεῖα', which we interpret as various types of vehicles, Septuagint and Theodotion used the term 'lampenas', for which Symmachus interpreted as 'lecticas'. Aquila used 'σκεπαστὰ', which itself means 'covered with skins', as a translation for 'lecticas'. This is said about the variety of translations. However, by horses, and chariots, and litters, and mules and wagons, and vehicles of various kinds, we can understand Angelic ministries, of which elsewhere it is said to God: Ascend upon your horses, and your riding is salvation (Hab. 3:8). With these horses, chariots, and chariots, Elijah was taken up to heaven, and Elisha showed himself to be surrounded and protected by them, demonstrating to the unaware boy (2 Kings 2). And Zacharias saw in the night: Behold a man ascending upon a red horse, and he stood in the midst of two shady mountains: and after him there were red, black, and white horses. And I said: What are these, my Lord? And he said to me:…
Dictionary and topics
Litter — (Heb. tsab, as being lightly and gently borne), a sedan or palanquin for the conveyance of persons of rank (Isa. 66:20). In Num. 7:3, the words “covered wagons” are more literally “carts of the…
Gentiles · PROPHECIES OF THE CONVERSION OF — PROPHECIES OF THE CONVERSION OF
Litter · An oriental — An oriental
Mule, The · The Jews: Shall used, at the restoration — The Jews: Shall used, at the restoration
Offerings · Required to be: Brought in a clean vessel — Required to be: Brought in a clean vessel
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).
chariots
וּ֠בָרֶכֶבU.va.re.khev
H7393
a vehicle · conjunction + preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
litters
וּבַצַּבִּ֨יםu.va.tza.Bim
H6632
a palanquin or canopy (as a fixture) · conjunction + preposition with the article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
mules
וּבַפְּרָדִ֜יםu.va.pe.ra.Dim
H6505
a mule (perhaps from his lonely habits) · conjunction + preposition with the article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
beasts
וּבַכִּרְכָּר֗וֹתu.va.kir.ka.Rot
H3753
a dromedary (from its rapid motion as if dancing) · conjunction + preposition with the article + noun, common feminine plural absolute
holy
קָדְשִׁ֛יkod.shi
H6944
a sacred place or thing · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
mountain
הַ֥רhar
H2022
a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figurative… · noun, common masculine singular construct
Jerusalem
יְרוּשָׁלִַ֖םye.ru.sha.Lim
H3389
Jerushalaim or Jerushalem · proper noun, a place name
saith
אָמַ֣ר'a.Mar
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
LORD
יְהוָ֑הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
children
בְנֵ֨יve.Nei
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֧לYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
bring
יָבִיאוּ֩ya.vi.'U
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
offering
הַמִּנְחָ֛הha.min.Chah
H4503
a donation · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
clean
טָה֖וֹרta.Hor
H2889
pure (in a physical · adjective, masculine singular absolute
vessel
בִּכְלִ֥יbikh.Li
H3627
something prepared · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
house
בֵּ֥יתbeit
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD
יְהוָֽהYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
John Gill on Isaiah 66:20
And they shall bring all your brethren, for an offering unto the Lord, out of all nations,.... This is not said of the Jews, either with respect to the first times of the Gospel; not of the devout men of all nations that heard the apostles on the day of Pentecost; nor of those the Gospel met with in the Gentile world, by the ministry of the apostles, to whom Peter and James write their epistles; or, in the latter day, such who remain in the several nations after the general conversion of that people; but this is to be understood of the Gentiles, and of the bringing in the fulness of them, by means of those who shall escape the calamities of those times, the destruction of the eastern and wes…
And they shall bring. Here he clearly explains what was formerly said, namely, that all who shall escape and survive, though they be few in number, shall nevertheless be priests, who shall bring sacrifices to God from all places. He alludes to the ancient ceremony of the Law, though he points out the difference that will be between those oblations and the sacrifices of the ancient Law; for he appoints a new kind of punishment and new sacrifices. As he had said that he would gather all the nations, so he now shews that the priests, whom he had appointed, shall not labor in vain; for God will grant prosperity to their undertakings.
All your brethren. He gives the name of "brethren" to those w…
But a remnant escapes; and this remnant is employed by Jehovah to promote the conversion of the Gentile world and the restoration of Israel. "And I set a sign upon them, and send away those that have escaped from them to the Gentiles to Tarshiish, Phl, and Ld, to the stretchers of the bow, Tbal and Javan - the distant islands that have not heard my fame and have not seen my glory, and they will proclaim my glory among the Gentiles. And they will bring your brethren out of all heathen nations, a sacrifice for Jehovah, upon horses and upon chariots, and upon litters and upon mules and upon dromedaries, to my holy mountain, to Jerusalem, saith Jehovah, as the children of Israel bring the meat-o…
The sign is the proclamation of God’s glory among the nations (66:20). God will establish a righteous and faithful new people consisting of godly Gentiles together with faithful Israelites (Rev 15:3-4; see also Acts 2).
Rashi on Isaiah 66:20
and with covered wagons Heb. וּבַצַּבִּים. These are wagons equipped with partitions and a tent. Comp. (Num. 7:3) “Six covered wagons (עֶגְלוֹתצָב).”
and with joyous songs Heb. וּבַכִּרְכָּרוֹת. With a song of players and dancers. Comp. (II Sam. 6:14) “And David danced (מְכַרְכֵּר),” treper in O.F. [Menahem (p. 109) explains it as an expression meaning a lamb. Comp. (supra 16:1) “Send lambs (כַּר) of the ruler of the land.”]
as...bring an offering in a pure vessel for acceptance, so will they bring your brethren as an acceptable offering.
