Isaiah 60:15
in Isaiah 60Whereas you have been forsaken and despised, with no one passing through, I will make you an everlasting pride, a joy from age to age.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man passed through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations.
KJV
Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations.
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This verse in Isaiah 60
Commentary
9 notes on this verse(Verse 15, 16.) Because you were abandoned and hated, with no one to pass by, I will make you a pride for all generations, a joy from generation to generation. You will suck the milk of the nations and nurse at the breast of kings. And you will know that I am the Lord, your Savior and strong Redeemer, Jacob. LXX: Because you were abandoned and hated, with no one to help, I will make you an eternal exultation, a joy for generations to come.
This site's exposition
Whereas you have been forsaken and despised
on Isaiah 60:15-16
“Whereas you have been forsaken and despised” names the ruin before its opposite: “I will make you an everlasting pride”. It closes on titles the book returns to, “your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob”, a title first given in Genesis 49:24.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
And they will be called the city of the Lord, Zion of holy Israel. On account of your being trapped and despised when there was no help, I will give you eternal rejoicing and joy for ages to come.
Those who are strangers to godliness are said to be cut off and hated and to have no help. But those from the wild olive branch come to take their place and are made to be joined into one people out of each. And in …
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, he sets out the reason for their subjection: because you were forsaken, it is just that you should be comforted after your distress; into the pride, height, of ages, through many ages. This also mystically befits the Church; after a storm you make a …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Yet considering how short Jerusalem's excellency was, and how short it came of the vast compass of this promise, we must look for the full accomplishment of it in the perpetual excellencies of the gospel church, far exceeding those of the Old-Testament church, and the glorious privileges and advantages of the Christian religion, which are indeed the joy of many generations.
Whereas thou hast been forsaken,.... Seemingly forsaken of God; thought to be so by herself, which was matter of complaint; and by her enemies, which to them was matter of joy; the Lord not appearing for her immediate relief, and for her deliverance out of the hands of her persecutors: and hated: of all men, of wicked and profane sinners, and of carnal professors, and especially of the antichristian party: so that no man went through thee; very few passengers in Zion's ways; few asked the way to her, or joined themselves in fellowship and worship with her.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Whereas thou hast been forsaken - Hebrew, ‘Instead of (תחת tachath) thy being forsaken,’ that is, thy subsequent prosperity shall come in the place of thy being formerly forsaken. The forsaking here refers to the various calamities, persecutions, and trials, which she had been called to endure. So that no man went through thee - When the country was desolate and abandoned, so that no caravan passed from one part of it to another, or made it a thoroughfare in going to other lands (compare Lam 1:4; see the notes at Isa 34:10).
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
forsaken-- (Ps 78:60, 61). no man went through thee--Thy land was so desolate that no traveller, or caravan, passed through thee; true only of Israel, not true of the Church (La 1:4). excellency--glory, that is, for ever honored.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| תַּ֧חַת | tachat | in place of | H8478 → | 505 times |
| הֱיוֹתֵ֛ךְ | heyotekh | being you | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| עֲזוּבָ֥ה | ʾazuvah | forsaken | H5800 → | 215 times |
| וּשְׂנוּאָ֖ה | usenuah | and hated | H8130 → | 146 times |
| וְאֵ֣ין | veein | and there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| עוֹבֵ֑ר | over | [was one who] passed through | H5674 → | 556 times |
| וְשַׂמְתִּיךְ֙ | vesamtikh | and I will make you | H7760 → | 584 times |
| לִגְא֣וֹן | ligon | <into> an exaltation of | H1347 → | 49 times |
| עוֹלָ֔ם | olam | perpetuity | H5769 → | 438 times |
| מְשׂ֖וֹשׂ | mesos | a joy of | H4885 → | 17 times |
| דּ֥וֹר | dor | a generation | H1755 → | 167 times |
| וָדֽוֹר׃ | vador | and a generation | H1755 → | 167 times |
תַּ֧חַתin place of
tachatH8478 →505 times
הֱיוֹתֵ֛ךְbeing you
heyotekhH1961 →3559 times
עֲזוּבָ֥הforsaken
ʾazuvahH5800 →215 times
וּשְׂנוּאָ֖הand hated
usenuahH8130 →146 times
וְאֵ֣יןand there not
veeinH369 →789 times
עוֹבֵ֑ר[was one who] passed through
overH5674 →556 times
וְשַׂמְתִּיךְ֙and I will make you
vesamtikhH7760 →584 times
לִגְא֣וֹן<into> an exaltation of
ligonH1347 →49 times
עוֹלָ֔םperpetuity
olamH5769 →438 times
מְשׂ֖וֹשׂa joy of
mesosH4885 →17 times
דּ֥וֹרa generation
dorH1755 →167 times
וָדֽוֹר׃and a generation
vadorH1755 →167 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
Jeremiah 30:17But I will restore your health and heal your wounds, declares the LORD, because they call you an outcast, Zion, for whom no one cares.”
it leads to
- Psalms 107:20
He sent forth His word and healed them; He rescued them from the Pit.
- Jeremiah 33:6
Nevertheless, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal its people and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth.
- 1 Peter 2:24
He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.”
- Psalms 103:3
He who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases,
- Exodus 15:26
saying, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then…
- Psalms 107:20
Through
Isaiah 61:7Instead of shame, My people will have a double portion, and instead of humiliation, they will rejoice in their share; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy…
it leads to
- Job 42:10
After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his prosperity and doubled his former possessions.
- Zechariah 9:12
Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; even today I declare that I will restore to you double.
- Isaiah 40:2
“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her forced labor has been completed; her iniquity has been pardoned. For she has received from the hand of the LORD double for all her…
- Job 42:10
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah

This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 10:294; Procopius of Gaza, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 60:1-22 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.
