Isaiah 65:22
in Isaiah 65No longer will they build houses for others to inhabit, nor plant for others to eat. For as is the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, and My chosen ones will fully enjoy the work of their hands.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree shall be the days of my people, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
KJV
They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
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This verse in Isaiah 65
Commentary
4 notes on this verseon Isaiah 65:21-22
(Ver. 21. 22.) And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat. LXX likewise. Concerning these houses, the prophetic psalm in the sixty-eighth chapter promises, saying: Because God will save Zion: and the cities of Judah shall be built, and they shall dwell there, and inherit it, and the seed of his servants shall possess it: and those who love his name shall dwell in it.
This site's exposition
the child shall die an hundred years old
on Isaiah 65:20-23
The child shall die an hundred years old describes death itself as a rarity rather than an infant's common fate, length of days pictured as the ordinary case and a shortened life as the sinner's exception. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the picture as necessarily describing an order still touched by death and sin, since a sinner can still die at a hundred years, an intermediate age between this present one and the eternal state where Revelation twenty-one pictures no more death at all: the millennial reading, the site's own, and the one the verses' plain arithmetic supports. Calvin reads the same verses as figurative for the security of the whole gospel age, and the note names that reading while stating its cost, that it must dissolve the passage's own numbers into figure and leaves the hundred-year sinner with nothing to count. The promise stands either way at its plainest: they shall build houses and inhabit them, they shall not labour in vain, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands, a reversal of the curse named in Deuteronomy twenty-eight where another eats what a man plants.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
The dwelling and plantation of the righteous will be eternal, so that the days of the life of my people may be compared to the days of the life of the tree, about which it is said in the Psalms: The righteous will flourish like a palm tree (Psalm 92:13), triumphing over their adversaries daily and displaying the emblem of victory.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
They shall not build, and another inhabit - The reverse of the curse denounced on the disobedient, Deu 28:30: “Thou shalt build a house, and thou shalt not dwell therein; thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof.” For as the days of a tree - It is commonly supposed that the oak, one of the most longlived of the trees, lasts about a thousand years; being five hundred years growing to full perfection, and as many decaying: which seems to be a moderate and probable computation. See Evelyn, Sylva, B. 3 chap.
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֹ֤א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִבְנוּ֙ | yivnu | they will build | H1129 → | 376 times |
| וְאַחֵ֣ר | veacher | and another | H312 → | 166 times |
| יֵשֵׁ֔ב | yeshev | he will dwell | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִטְּע֖וּ | yiteu | they will plant | H5193 → | 58 times |
| וְאַחֵ֣ר | veacher | and another | H312 → | 166 times |
| יֹאכֵ֑ל | yokhel | he will eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כִימֵ֤י | khimei | [will be] like [the] days of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הָעֵץ֙ | haetz | <the> tree | H6086 → | 328 times |
| יְמֵ֣י | yemei | [the] days of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| עַמִּ֔י | ʾami | people my | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| וּמַעֲשֵׂ֥ה | umaaseh | and [the] work of | H4639 → | 236 times |
| יְדֵיהֶ֖ם | yedeihem | hands their | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| יְבַלּ֥וּ | yevalu | they will use to [the] full | H1086 → | 15 times |
| בְחִירָֽי׃ | vechirai | chosen ones my | H972 → | 13 times |
לֹ֤אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יִבְנוּ֙they will build
yivnuH1129 →376 times
וְאַחֵ֣רand another
veacherH312 →166 times
יֵשֵׁ֔בhe will dwell
yeshevH3427 →1079 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יִטְּע֖וּthey will plant
yiteuH5193 →58 times
וְאַחֵ֣רand another
veacherH312 →166 times
יֹאכֵ֑לhe will eat
yokhelH398 →810 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
כִימֵ֤י[will be] like [the] days of
khimeiH3117 →2304 times
הָעֵץ֙<the> tree
haetzH6086 →328 times
יְמֵ֣י[the] days of
yemeiH3117 →2304 times
עַמִּ֔יpeople my
ʾamiH5971 →1873 times
וּמַעֲשֵׂ֥הand [the] work of
umaasehH4639 →236 times
יְדֵיהֶ֖םhands their
yedeihemH3027 →1618 times
יְבַלּ֥וּthey will use to [the] full
yevaluH1086 →15 times
בְחִירָֽי׃chosen ones my
vechiraiH972 →13 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
Psalms 91:16With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation.”
it leads to
- Proverbs 3:2
for they will add length to your days, years and peace to your life.
- Proverbs 3:16
Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.
- Psalms 21:4
He asked You for life, and You granted it— length of days, forever and ever.
- Psalms 50:23
He who sacrifices a thank offering honors Me, and to him who rights his way, I will show the salvation of God.”
- Isaiah 65:20–22
No longer will a nursing infant live but a few days, or an old man fail to live out his years. For the youth will die at a hundred years, and he who fails…
- Proverbs 3:2
Through
Psalms 21:4He asked You for life, and You granted it— length of days, forever and ever.
it leads to
- Psalms 91:16
With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation.”
- Revelation 1:18
the Living One. I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades.
- Psalms 119:77
May Your compassion come to me, that I may live, for Your law is my delight.
- Psalms 91:16
Where this verse is studied
1 study on this verseAlso on Isaiah 65: 3 studies that walk through this chapter ▾
About Isaiah

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah and John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah.
