Isaiah 14:1
in Isaiah 14For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob; once again He will choose Israel and settle them in their own land. The foreigner will join them and unite with the house of Jacob.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For Jehovah will have compassion on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the sojourner shall join himself with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.
KJV
For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.
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This verse in Isaiah 14
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
will have compassion on Jacob
on Isaiah 14:1-3
The LORD's compassion on Jacob opens the promise before the taunt-song. The foreigner who joins the house of Jacob describes proselytes drawn into Israel's household, and the reversal of verse 2 answers the exile's humiliation. The mercy promised here is bound to a real land and a real people.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
Truly his will shall be fulfilled swiftly and suddenly, as the Scripture testifies.
For the proselytes have no need of a covenant, if, since there is one and the same law imposed on all that are circumcised, the Scripture speaks about them thus: 'And the stranger shall also be joined with them, and shall be joined to the house of Jacob.'
(Chapter XIV - Verse 1) The time is near for it to come, and its days will not be prolonged. It says that the time is pressing and that it must be captured from the enemies. After the captivity of Jerusalem, not much time passed, and it was devastated by the Medes and Persians. For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob and will still choose Israel and cause them to rest on their own land.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Her time is near at hand. In this part, he promises liberation to the Jews through the destruction of Babylon, which he threatened above. And this is divided into three parts: in the first, he promises liberation; in the second, he foretells the insults of …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, will yet choose Israel,....
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The particular favours he designed them. He would bring them back to their native soil and air again: The Lord will set them in their own land, out of which they were driven. A settlement in the holy land, the land of promise, is a fruit of God's mercy, distinguishing mercy.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
choose--"set His choice upon." A deliberate predilection [HORSLEY]. Their restoration is grounded on their election (see Ps 102:13-22). strangers--proselytes (Es 8:17;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
And will yet choose Israel - That is, will still regard Israel as his chosen people; however he may seem to desert them, by giving them up to their enemies, and scattering them among the nations. Judah is sometimes called Israel; see Eze 13:16; Mal 1:1; Mal 2:11: but the name of Jacob and of Israel, used apparently with design in this place, each of which names includes the twelve tribes, and the other circumstances mentioned in this and the next verse, which did not in any complete sense accompany the return from the captivity of Babylon, seem to intimate that this whole prophecy extends its views beyond that event.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob - That is, he will pity the captive Jews in Babylon. He will not abandon them, but will remember them, and restore them to their own land. And will yet choose Israel - Will show that he regards them as still his chosen people; or will again “choose” them by recovering them from their bondage, and by restoring them to their country as his people. The names ‘Jacob’ and ‘Israel’ here simply denote the Jews.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
For the Lord shall have mercy on Jacob to keep for them the promise of their redemption from Babylonia.
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. 4 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
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּי֩ | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יְרַחֵ֨ם | yerachem | he will have compassion on | H7355 → | 47 times |
| יְהוָ֜ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶֽת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יַעֲקֹ֗ב | yaako | Jacob | H3290 → | 350 times |
| וּבָחַ֥ר | uvachar | and he will choose | H977 → | 171 times |
| עוֹד֙ | ʾod | again | H5750 → | 490 times |
| בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | beyisrael | <in> Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וְהִנִּיחָ֖ם | vehinicham | and he will give rest them | H5117 → | 142 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אַדְמָתָ֑ם | ʾadmatam | own land their | H127 → | 225 times |
| וְנִלְוָ֤ה | venilvah | and he will join himself | H3867 → | 26 times |
| הַגֵּר֙ | hager | the sojourner | H1616 → | |
| עֲלֵיהֶ֔ם | ʾaleihem | to them | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| וְנִסְפְּח֖וּ | venispechu | and they will attach themselves | H5596 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | to | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| בֵּ֥ית | beit | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יַעֲקֹֽב׃ | yaako | Jacob | H3290 → | 350 times |
כִּי֩for
kiH3588 →4482 times
יְרַחֵ֨םhe will have compassion on
yerachemH7355 →47 times
יְהוָ֜הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶֽת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יַעֲקֹ֗בJacob
yaakoH3290 →350 times
וּבָחַ֥רand he will choose
uvacharH977 →171 times
עוֹד֙again
ʾodH5750 →490 times
בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל<in> Israel
beyisraelH3478 →2507 times
וְהִנִּיחָ֖םand he will give rest them
vehinichamH5117 →142 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
אַדְמָתָ֑םown land their
ʾadmatamH127 →225 times
וְנִלְוָ֤הand he will join himself
venilvahH3867 →26 times
הַגֵּר֙the sojourner
hagerH1616 →
עֲלֵיהֶ֔םto them
ʾaleihemH5921 →5755 times
וְנִסְפְּח֖וּand they will attach themselves
venispechuH5596 →
עַל־to
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
בֵּ֥ית[the] house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
יַעֲקֹֽב׃Jacob
yaakoH3290 →350 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 102:13You will rise up and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show her favor— the appointed time has come.
it leads to
- Galatians 4:4
But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
- Isaiah 60:1
Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
- 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…
- Psalms 44:26
Rise up; be our help! Redeem us on account of Your loving devotion.
- Zechariah 2:10–12
“Shout for joy and be glad, O Daughter of Zion, for I am coming to dwell among you,” declares the LORD.
- Galatians 4:4
Through
Zechariah 1:17Proclaim further that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘My cities will again overflow with prosperity; the LORD will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.’”
it leads to
- Isaiah 51:3
For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness…
- Zechariah 2:12
And the LORD will take possession of Judah as His portion in the Holy Land, and He will once again choose Jerusalem.
- Isaiah 66:13
As a mother comforts her son, so will I comfort you, and you will be consoled over Jerusalem.”
- Isaiah 51:3
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Clement of Rome, 1 CLEMENT 23; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, Chapter CXXIII; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.