Isaiah 54:6
in Isaiah 54For the LORD has called you back, like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit, like the rejected wife of one’s youth,” says your God.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For Jehovah hath called thee as a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even a wife of youth, when she is cast off, saith thy God.
KJV
For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.
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This verse in Isaiah 54
Commentary
9 notes on this verse(Verse 6, 7) Because the Lord has called you, a forsaken and grieving woman, with the Spirit: and said your God to the wife rejected from her youth. For a moment, in a small thing, I have forsaken you: and in great mercies, I will gather you. In a moment of anger, I have hidden my face from you for a little while: and in everlasting mercy, I have shown compassion to you, says your Redeemer, the Lord.
This site's exposition
forget the shame
on Isaiah 54:4-6
Verse 4 promises that Zion “will forget the shame of your youth and will remember no more the reproach of your widowhood”. Verse 5 gives the ground in three titles joined to one bond: “your husband is your Maker”, “the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer”.
This site's exposition
the LORD has called you back
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown read called you back as a prophetic past, a future recall spoken as done. Thomas Aquinas sets the recall against Jeremiah 3:1, where a husband cannot take back a wife who has left him for another. Barnes ties the verse to the husband of verse 5.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
And as to marriage: for the Lord has called you as a woman forsaken: if a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and marry another man, shall he return to her any more? (Jer 3:1).
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
He will have mercy on them. This supposes the turning away of his anger and the admitting of them again into his favour. God's gathering his people takes rise from his mercy, not any merit of others; and it is with great mercies (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit,....
How sorrowful the church's condition had been. She had been as a woman forsaken, whose husband was dead, or had fallen out with her, though she was a wife of youth, upon which account she is grieved in spirit, takes it very ill, frets, and grows melancholy upon it; or she had been as one refused and rejected, and therefore full of discontent.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
For the Lord hath called thee - This is designed to confirm and illustrate the sentiment in the previous verse. God there says that he would be a husband to his people. Here he says, that although he had for a time apparently forsaken them, as a husband who had forsaken his wife, and although they were cast down and dejected like a woman who had thus been forsaken, yet he would now restore them to favor.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
called--that is, recalled: the prophetic past for the future. forsaken--that had been forsaken. when thou--or, "when she was rejected"; one who had been a wife of youth (Eze 16:8, 22, 60; Jer 2:2) at the time when (thou, or) she was rejected for infidelity [MAURER].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כְאִשָּׁ֧ה | kheishah | like a wife | H802 → | 781 times |
| עֲזוּבָ֛ה | ʾazuvah | abandoned | H5800 → | 215 times |
| וַעֲצ֥וּבַת | vaatzuvat | and grieved of | H6087 → | |
| ר֖וּחַ | ruach | spirit | H7307 → | 378 times |
| קְרָאָ֣ךְ | keraakh | he will call you | H7121 → | 733 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וְאֵ֧שֶׁת | veeshet | and a wife of | H802 → | 781 times |
| נְעוּרִ֛ים | neurim | youth<s> | H5271 → | 47 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| תִמָּאֵ֖ס | timaes | she is rejected | H3988 → | 76 times |
| אָמַ֥ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֱלֹהָֽיִךְ׃ | ʾelohayikh | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
כְאִשָּׁ֧הlike a wife
kheishahH802 →781 times
עֲזוּבָ֛הabandoned
ʾazuvahH5800 →215 times
וַעֲצ֥וּבַתand grieved of
vaatzuvatH6087 →
ר֖וּחַspirit
ruachH7307 →378 times
קְרָאָ֣ךְhe will call you
keraakhH7121 →733 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וְאֵ֧שֶׁתand a wife of
veeshetH802 →781 times
נְעוּרִ֛יםyouth<s>
neurimH5271 →47 times
כִּ֥יif
kiH3588 →4482 times
תִמָּאֵ֖סshe is rejected
timaesH3988 →76 times
אָמַ֥רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
אֱלֹהָֽיִךְ׃God your
ʾelohayikhH430 →2601 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 62:4No longer will you be called Forsaken, nor your land named Desolate; but you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will…
it leads to
- Zephaniah 3:17
The LORD your God is among you; He is mighty to save. He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you with His love; He will rejoice over you with singing.”
- Hosea 2:19–20
So I will betroth you to Me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in loving devotion and compassion.
- Isaiah 62:12
And they will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of The LORD; and you will be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.
- Isaiah 54:5–7
For your husband is your Maker—the LORD of Hosts is His name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth.
- Jeremiah 32:41
Yes, I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul.
- Zephaniah 3:17
Through
Proverbs 5:18May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 9:9
Enjoy life with your beloved wife all the days of the fleeting life that God has given you under the sun—all your fleeting days. For this is your portion in life and in your…
- Malachi 2:14–15
Yet you ask, “Why?” It is because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have broken faith, though she is your companion and your…
- Ecclesiastes 9:9
Through
Ecclesiastes 9:9Enjoy life with your beloved wife all the days of the fleeting life that God has given you under the sun—all your fleeting days. For this is your portion in life and in your…
it leads to
- Proverbs 5:18–19
May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:
- Proverbs 5:18–19
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.