Isaiah 56:4
in Isaiah 56For this is what the LORD says: “To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, who choose what pleases Me and hold fast to My covenant—
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For thus saith Jehovah of the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and hold fast my covenant:
KJV
For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant;
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This verse in Isaiah 56
Commentary
10 notes on this verse(Vers. 4, 5.) Because the Lord says these things to the eunuchs: If they keep my Sabbaths, and choose what I desire, and hold fast to my covenant, I will give them a place in my house and within my walls, and a better name than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.
This site's exposition
Let no foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say
on Isaiah 56:3-5
The foreigner and the eunuch are named together. The eunuch is given “in My house and within My walls, a memorial and a name better than that of sons and daughters”. “I am but a dry tree” gives way to “an everlasting name that will not be cut off”.
This site's exposition
To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths
Jerome reads the eunuchs who thought themselves a dry tree as promised a place in heaven, and names Ebed-melech and the eunuch of Candace. Thomas Aquinas reads keeping the Sabbaths as worship, and to choose what pleases God as obedience. Barnes takes the plural Sabbaths to cover all religious observance.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
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.
(Vers. 4, 5.) Because the Lord says these things to the eunuchs: If they keep my Sabbaths, and choose what I desire, and hold fast to my covenant, I will give them a place in my house and within my walls, and a better name than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, he sets out the promise: for thus says the Lord. And first, in those things pertaining especially to eunuchs: they that shall keep my sabbaths, as to religious worship, and shall choose the things that please me, as to obedience of the law, and …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs - Even the eunuchs, who have hitherto been excluded from the privileges of the people of God, and who have been regarded as a separated and degraded people, shall be admitted to the same privileges as others. That keep my sabbaths - The word is used here in the plural, though the weekly Sabbath is probably particularly intended. It may be, however, that the word is used to represent religious observances in general (see the notes at Isa 56:2).
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2762: “Taking Hold of God's Covenant” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
IT was generally supposed by the Jews that no one except the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob could be in Covenant relationship with God. You remember, however, how Paul says, in writing to the Romans, "But Isaiah is very bold," and he is so in this instance. He declares that men may take hold of the Covenant of God though, heretofore, they appeared to be shut out from its privileges.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2762: “Taking Hold of God's Covenant” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
IT was generally supposed by the Jews that no one except the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob could be in Covenant relationship with God. You remember, however, how Paul says, in writing to the Romans, "But Isaiah is very bold," and he is so in this instance. He declares that men may take hold of the Covenant of God though, heretofore, they appeared to be shut out from its privileges. There were certain poor mutilated beings who were despised by some because of their disabilities—yet they were to be encouraged to keep the Lord's Sabbaths, to choose the things that pleased Him and to take hold of His Covenant. Then there were the foreigners, of whom the Lord said, "Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to Jehovah, to serve Him and to love the name of Jehovah to be His servants, everyone that keeps the Sabbath from polluting it, and takes hold of My Covenant; 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 accepted upon My altar; for My house shall be called an house of prayer for all people." It was thus clearly revealed that persons who appeared to be shut out from the Covenant because they were not of the seed of Abraham, were, in later days, to be encouraged to obey the commands of God and especially to obey His ordinance concerning the keeping of the Sabbath—which separated His people from the rest of mankind—and to take hold of His Covenant. It is of that particular action of taking hold of God's Covenant that I am about to speak as the Holy Spirit shall enable me. I.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
“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.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כֹ֣ה׀ | khoh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֣ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֗ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לַסָּֽרִיסִים֙ | lasarisim | to the eunuchs | H5631 → | 42 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֤ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יִשְׁמְרוּ֙ | yishmeru | they keep | H8104 → | 468 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שַׁבְּתוֹתַ֔י | shabetotai | sabbaths my | H7676 → | 110 times |
| וּבָֽחֲר֖וּ | uvacharu | and they choose | H977 → | 171 times |
| בַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר | baasher | <in> [that] which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| חָפָ֑צְתִּי | chafatzeti | I desire | H2654 → | 74 times |
| וּמַחֲזִיקִ֖ים | umachazikim | and [they are] keeping hold | H2388 → | 291 times |
| בִּבְרִיתִֽי׃ | bivriti | on covenant my | H1285 → | 284 times |
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
כֹ֣ה׀thus
khohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֣רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֗הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
לַסָּֽרִיסִים֙to the eunuchs
lasarisimH5631 →42 times
אֲשֶׁ֤רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
יִשְׁמְרוּ֙they keep
yishmeruH8104 →468 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שַׁבְּתוֹתַ֔יsabbaths my
shabetotaiH7676 →110 times
וּבָֽחֲר֖וּand they choose
uvacharuH977 →171 times
בַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר<in> [that] which
baasherH834 →5497 times
חָפָ֑צְתִּיI desire
chafatzetiH2654 →74 times
וּמַחֲזִיקִ֖יםand [they are] keeping hold
umachazikimH2388 →291 times
בִּבְרִיתִֽי׃on covenant my
bivritiH1285 →284 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
Joshua 24:15But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 18:21
Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him. But if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people did…
- John 6:67–68
So Jesus asked the Twelve, “Do you want to leave too?”
- Ruth 1:15–16
“Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; follow her back home.”
- Deuteronomy 29:18
Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Make sure…
- Ezekiel 20:39
And as for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Lord GOD says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you. But afterward, you will surely listen to Me, and you…
- 1 Kings 18:21
Through
Luke 10:42But only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, and it will not be taken away from her.”
it leads to
- Psalms 27:4
One thing I have asked of the LORD; this is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the…
- Psalms 16:5–6
The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure.
- John 10:27–28
My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.
- Psalms 27:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Isaiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2762: “Taking Hold of God's Covenant” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; Jerome, Against Jovinianus 1.12; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.