Isaiah 60:3
in Isaiah 60Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And nations shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
KJV
And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
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This verse in Isaiah 60
Commentary
5 notes on this verseProphecy did not lie, then, when it said, "Kings shall walk in thy light." They shall walk openly, and especially Gratian and Theodosius before other princes, no longer protected by the weapons of their soldiers but by their own merits; clothed not in purple garments but in the mantle of glory. In this world they took delight in pardoning many. How much the more are they consoled in the other life by the remembrance of their goodness, recalling that they had spared many? They now enjoy radiant light.
This site's exposition
Arise, shine; for thy light is come
on Isaiah 60:1-3
Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee opens the comfort book's brightest chapter, addressed to Zion as a woman told to rise out of the darkness just described in chapter 59. Verse 2 sets the light against a world still covered in gross darkness, so that Zion's brightness is not the world's general condition but a light shining against a dark background, and verse 3 draws the nations toward it, the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Delitzsch reads the imperative arise as addressed to a people still sitting in the posture of exile, and Barnes notes the reversal from chapter 59's darkness, where the people groped for the wall like the blind, to this chapter's summons to rise and shine.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
on Isaiah 60:1-3
(Chapter 60—Verse 1 and following) Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. 70: Arise, arise, O Jerusalem, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. Behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
(2.) "By the light with which thou shinest." The purity and love of the primitive Christians, their heavenly-mindedness, contempt of the world, and patient sufferings, were the brightness of the church's rising, which drew many into it. The beauty of holiness was the powerful attractive by which Christ had a willing people brought to him in the day of his power, Ps. cx.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And the Gentiles shall come - So splendid shall be that glory, that it will attract the distant nations, and they shall come and participate in the blessings of the gospel. This contains the main statement which it is the design of this chapter to illustrate.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָלְכ֥וּ | vehalekhu | and they will come | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| גוֹיִ֖ם | goyim | nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| לְאוֹרֵ֑ךְ | leorekh | to light your | H216 → | 121 times |
| וּמְלָכִ֖ים | umelakhim | and kings | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| לְנֹ֥גַהּ | lenogah | to [the] brightness of | H5051 → | 19 times |
| זַרְחֵֽךְ׃ | zarchekh | dawn your | H2225 → |
וְהָלְכ֥וּand they will come
vehalekhuH1980 →1546 times
גוֹיִ֖םnations
goyimH1471 →561 times
לְאוֹרֵ֑ךְto light your
leorekhH216 →121 times
וּמְלָכִ֖יםand kings
umelakhimH4428 →2525 times
לְנֹ֥גַהּto [the] brightness of
lenogahH5051 →19 times
זַרְחֵֽךְ׃dawn your
zarchekhH2225 →
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
Acts 13:47For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
it leads to
- Isaiah 49:6
He says: “It is not enough for You to be My Servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the protected ones of Israel. I will also make You a light…
- Isaiah 42:6
“I, the LORD, have called you for a righteous purpose, and I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a…
- Luke 2:32
a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Your people Israel.”
- Isaiah 49:6
Through
Isaiah 49:23Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow to you facedown and lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD;…
it leads to
- Isaiah 60:16
You will drink the milk of nations and nurse at the breasts of royalty; you will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
- Isaiah 60:14
The sons of your oppressors will come and bow down to you; all who reviled you will fall facedown at your feet and call you the City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy…
- Micah 7:17
They will lick the dust like a snake, like reptiles slithering on the ground. They will crawl from their holes in the presence of the LORD our God; they will tremble in fear of…
- Isaiah 45:14
This is what the LORD says: “The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, along with the Sabeans, men of stature, will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge…
- Isaiah 60:10–11
Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Although I struck you in anger, yet in favor I will show you mercy.
- Isaiah 60:16
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); Ambrose of Milan, ON THE DEATH OF THEODOSIUS 52; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.