Isaiah 66:5 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 66:5
Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.
a word · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
brethren
אֲחֵיכֶ֨ם'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
hated
שֹׂנְאֵיכֶ֜םso.ne.'ei.Khem
H8130
to hate (personally) · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
out
מְנַדֵּיכֶ֗םme.na.dei.Khem
H5077
properly · verb, piel active participle, masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
name’s
שְׁמִי֙she.Mi
H8034
an appellation · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
said
אָמְרוּ֩'a.me.Ru
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
LORD
יְהוָ֔הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
glorified
יִכְבַּ֣דyikh.Bad
H3513
to be heavy · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
appear
וְנִרְאֶ֥הve.nir.'Eh
H7200
to see · conjunction + verb, qal, 1st person common plural
joy
בְשִׂמְחַתְכֶ֖םve.sim.chat.Khem
H8057
blithesomeness or glee · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
ashamed
יֵבֹֽשׁוּye.Vo.shu
H954
properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
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 66:2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is p…
John 15:18-20 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
Matthew 5:10-12 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Psalms 38:20 They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.
Matthew 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Song of Solomon 1:6 Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper…
Isaiah 5:19 That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, tha…
Jeremiah 36:16 Now it came to pass, when they had heard all the words, they were afraid both one and other, and said unto Baruch, We will surely tell the k…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 66:5-14
The prophet, having denounced God's judgments against a hypocritical nation, that made a jest of God's word and would not answer him when he called to them, here turns his speech to those that trembled at his word, to comfort and encourage them; they shall not be involved in the judgments that are coming upon their unbelieving nation. Ministers must distinguish thus, that, when they speak terror to the wicked, they may not make the hearts of the righteous sad. Bone Christiane, hoc nihil ad te - Good Christian, this is nothing to thee. The prophet, having assured those that tremble at God's word of a gracious look from him (Isa 66:2), here brings them a gracious message from him. The word of…
tremble at . . . word--the same persons as in Isa 66:2, the believing few among the Jews.
cast you out for my name's sake--excommunicate, as if too polluted to worship with them (Isa 65:5). So in Christ's first sojourn on earth (Mat 10:22; Joh 9:22, Joh 9:34; Joh 16:2; Joh 15:21). So it shall be again in the last times, when the believing shall be few (Luk 18:8).
Let the Lord be glorified--the mocking challenge of the persecutors, as if their violence towards you was from zeal for God. "Let the Lord show Himself glorious," namely, by manifesting Himself in your behalf; as the parallelism to, "He shall appear to your joy," requires (as in Isa 5:19; compare Isa 28:15; Isa 57:4). So again C…
Your brethren that hated you - said "Say ye to your brethren that hate you" - The Syriac reads אמרו לאחיכם imru laacheychem; and so the Septuagint, Edit. Comp. ειπατε αδελφοις ὑμων· and MS. Marchal. has αδελφοις· and so Cyril and Procopius read and explain it. It is not easy to make sense of the reading of the Septuagint in the other editions; ειπατε αδελφοι ἡμων τοις μισουσιν ὑμας· but for ἡμων, our, MS. 1. D. 2 also has ὑμων, your.
John Gill on Isaiah 66:5
The Church Fathers
"Your brothers who hate you." Consider them as your brothers, he says, even though they hate you because of your faith, and lead them to the fear of God, so that "the Lord may be glorified in you." According to Henana, consider them to be execrable and evil, he says, even though they are your brothers by nature. "When they are cast out for my name, the Lord will be glorified" in you, "and they will be put to shame," and maybe, he says, they will be put to shame because of that and will abstain from evil actions.
(Verse 5) Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at his word. Your brothers who hate you and cast you out because of my name have said: Let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy; but they will be put to shame. LXX: Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at his word. Say to your brothers who hate you and despise you, that the name of the Lord may be glorified, and appear in their joy; and let them be put to shame. About which he had already said before: On whom shall I look, unless on him who is humble and quiet, and who trembles at my words? He commands them to pass over to his worship, despising the sacrifices of the Jews and disregarding the arrogance of the Scribes and Pharisees, whom they did not want to hear when he called them, and whom they despised and did evil in his sight. Not content with the end of these precepts, he also commands them to love their enemies, to do good to those who hate them, and to pray for their persecutors, and to imitate the clemency of the Father, who makes his sun rise on the just and the unjust, so that, seeing your works, they may glorify your Father who is in heaven. What is specifically commanded to the general understanding of the apostles and apostolic men, that they should love their Jewish persecutors and those who abhor them, and have them in the place of brothers, saying with Peter: Men, brothers and fathers, listen; and with the Apostle Paul: I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart for my brothers, who are Israelites (Romans 9:2). But the name of the Lord is glorified when men see the fierceness of the persecutors broken by our patience and the hand of the one who strikes, confounded by the downfall of another evil. In the Gospel, it is commanded: Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Matt. 5:16); and in the Apocalypse of John: Fear God, and give glory to Him (Rev. 14:7). Paul also writes to the Corinthians, urging them to chastity: That you may glorify God in your body (1 Cor. 6:20). And again: Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). And the Lord did not curse those who cursed him (1 Peter 2); and he prayed for his persecutors. But what he commands: 'Say to your brothers' (Matthew 28:10), should not be taken simply, otherwise many call themselves brothers, yet do…
Dictionary and topics
Hypocrisy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
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).
Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word,.... This is said to the comfort of the believing Jews, who are thus described; See Gill on Isaiah 66:2,
your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake; as the unbelieving Jews, the Pharisees; and so Jarchi interprets it of the children of the Pharisee, that say, Depart, ye defiled; who were brethren to them that believed in Christ, by blood, by birth, by country, yet hated them, though without cause; as they did Christ, in whom they believed; and cast them out of their affections, and company, and conversation; out of their own houses, and out of the synagogues; excommunicated them from fellowship with them, and tha…
Hear the word of Jehovah. He directs his discourse to the true worshippers of God, and promises to them what they could scarcely have expected during those terrible calamities; and he expressly addresses them, because at that time there were many who falsely boasted of the name of God. Nay more, leaving the undistinguished multitude, he directs his discourse separately to a small number, as he formerly said,
"Seal the law, bind the testimony among my disciples." (Isaiah 8:16.)
Ye who tremble at my word. He points out the true and sincere children of God, by this mark, that they "tremble at the word of the Lord." This indeed is an uncommon virtue; and therefore he contrasts it with the fals…
From the heathenish majority, with their ungodly hearts, the prophet now turns to the minority, consisting of those who tremble with reverential awe when they hear the word of God. They are called to hear how Jehovah will accept them in defiance of their persecutors. "Hear ye the word of Jehovah, ye that tremble at His word: your brethren that hate you, that thrust you from them for my name's sake, say, 'Let Jehovah get honour, that we may see your joy:' they will be put to shame." They that hate them are their own brethren, and (what makes the sin still greater) the name of Jehovah is the reason why they are hated by them. According to the accents, indeed (מנדיכם rebia, סמי pashta), the mea…
delighting in their detestable sins: Literally delighting in abominations, which refers to pagan worship practices. • sacrifice a bull . . . blessed an idol: Wicked people brought sacrifices as prescribed by the law, but their sin rendered those sacrifices equivalent to pagan offerings (see 1:11-17).
Rashi on Isaiah 66:5
who quake at His word The righteous who hasten with quaking to draw near to His words.
Your brethren...said The transgressors of Israel mentioned above. Another explanation: Your brethren... who cast you out, said Who said to you (Lam. 4:15), “Turn away, unclean one.”
who hate you, who cast you out Who say (supra 65:5), “Keep to yourself, do not come near me.” [Because of the confusion, we quote other readings. Some manuscripts, as well as K’li Paz, read:] Your brethren... said The transgressors of Israel mentioned above. who hate you, who cast you out who say (supra 65: 5), “Keep to yourself, do not come near me.” Another explanation: Your brethren...said The children of Esau. who cast yo…
