Isaiah 49:22
in Isaiah 49This is what the Lord GOD says: “Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations, and raise My banner to the peoples. They will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and set up my ensign to the peoples; and they shall bring thy sons in their bosom, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.
KJV
Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.
⋯
This verse in Isaiah 49
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThus saith the Lord God,.... In answer to the questions, where had these children been? and from whence did they come? who begot them, and brought them up? and by what means was all this done, or would be done? I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles; beckoning them to come unto him, directing and ordering them what to do; or rather exerting the power of his grace in the conversion of them.
This site's exposition
lift up My hand to the nations
on Isaiah 49:22-23
The nations that held Zion’s children carry them home; kings become “your foster fathers” and queens “your nursing mothers”, bowing “facedown”. The verse ends on recognition, “Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in Me will never be put to shame.”
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 22, 23.) Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will raise my hand to the nations, and I will exalt my sign to the peoples; and they shall bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders. And kings shall be your foster fathers, and queens your nursing mothers. With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet; and you shall know that I am the Lord, those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, he excludes this doubt, setting out the manner of the multitude of inhabitants: thus says the Lord, as to four things: first, as to their divine inspiration: behold I will lift up my hand, as though beckoning, and will set up my sign to …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The Christian church, after a long captivity, was happy in some such kings and queens as Constantine and his mother Helena, and afterwards Theodosius, and others, who nursed the church with all possible care and tenderness. Whenever the sceptre of government is put into the hands of religious princes, then this promise is fulfilled.
Or it denotes the exerting of an almighty power, that of his Spirit and grace, to compel them to come in, to make them willing. And he will set up his standard to them, the preaching of the everlasting gospel, to which they shall gather, and under which they shall enlist themselves.
A ratification of the prophecy of the Jews' release out of Babylon, which was to be the figure and type of all these blessings,,
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Thus saith the Lord God - אדני יהוה Adonai Yehovah. Adonai is wanting in one MS., in the Alexandrine copy of the Septuagint, and in the Arabic.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
lift . . . hand--that is, beckon to (see on Isa 13:2). standard-- (Isa 11:12). bring . . . sons in . . . arms--The Gentiles shall aid in restoring Israel to its own land (Isa 60:4; Children able to support themselves are carried on the shoulders in the East; but infants, in the arms, or astride on one haunch (Isa 60:12).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles - To lift up the hand is a sign of beckoning to, or inviting; and the idea here is, that God would call the Gentiles to partake of the blessings of the true religion, and to embrace the Messiah (see the notes at Isa 11:11). And set up my standard to the people - To the people of other lands; the word here being synonymous with the word Gentiles. A standard, or an ensign was erected in times of war to rally the forces of a nation around it; and the sense here is, that God would erect an ensign high in the sight of all the nations, and would call them to himself, as a military leader musters his forces for battle; that is, he would call the nations to embrace the true religion. See this phrase explained in the the note at Isa 11:12. They shall bring thy sons in their arms - Margin, ‘Bosom.’ Jerome renders it, In ulnis - ‘In their arms.’ The Septuagint, Ἐν κόλπῳ En kolpō - ‘In the bosom.’ Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, Ἀγκαλας Agkalas - ‘In their arms.’ If it means bosom, as Gesenius renders it, it refers to the bosom of a garment in which things are carried. But it more probably means in the arms, as children are borne; and the idea is, that the distant nations would come and bear with them those who were the children of Zion, that is, those who would become the true friends and worshippers of God. And thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders - Referring, doubtless, to the manner in which children were carried. In Isa 66:12, the same idea is expressed by their being carried upon the sides, referring to the custom still prevalent in the East, of placing a child when it is nursed astride on the side of the mother. The following quotation will more fully explain the customs here alluded to. […]
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כֹּֽה־ | koh- | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֞ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֣י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יְהוִ֗ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3069 → | 306 times |
| הִנֵּ֨ה | hineh | here! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| אֶשָּׂ֤א | ʾesa' | I will lift up | H5375 → | 656 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| גּוֹיִם֙ | goyim | [the] nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| יָדִ֔י | yadi | hand my | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| וְאֶל־ | veel- | and to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| עַמִּ֖ים | ʾamim | peoples | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| אָרִ֣ים | ʾarim | I will raise | H7311 → | 190 times |
| נִסִּ֑י | nisi | standard my | H5251 → | 21 times |
| וְהֵבִ֤יאוּ | veheviu | and they will bring | H935 → | 2568 times |
| בָנַ֙יִךְ֙ | vanayikh | sons your | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| בְּחֹ֔צֶן | bechotzen | in a bosom | H2684 → | |
| וּבְנֹתַ֖יִךְ | uvenotayikh | and daughters your | H1323 → | 588 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כָּתֵ֥ף | katef | a shoulder | H3802 → | 67 times |
| תִּנָּשֶֽׂאנָה׃ | tinasenah | they will be carried | H5375 → | 656 times |
כֹּֽה־thus
koh-H3541 →577 times
אָמַ֞רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
אֲדֹנָ֣י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יְהוִ֗הYahweh
yahwehH3069 →306 times
הִנֵּ֨הhere!
hinehH2009 →843 times
אֶשָּׂ֤אI will lift up
ʾesa'H5375 →656 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
גּוֹיִם֙[the] nations
goyimH1471 →561 times
יָדִ֔יhand my
yadiH3027 →1618 times
וְאֶל־and to
veel-H413 →5510 times
עַמִּ֖יםpeoples
ʾamimH5971 →1873 times
אָרִ֣יםI will raise
ʾarimH7311 →190 times
נִסִּ֑יstandard my
nisiH5251 →21 times
וְהֵבִ֤יאוּand they will bring
veheviuH935 →2568 times
בָנַ֙יִךְ֙sons your
vanayikhH1121 →4930 times
בְּחֹ֔צֶןin a bosom
bechotzenH2684 →
וּבְנֹתַ֖יִךְand daughters your
uvenotayikhH1323 →588 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כָּתֵ֥ףa shoulder
katefH3802 →67 times
תִּנָּשֶֽׂאנָה׃they will be carried
tinasenahH5375 →656 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 86:9All the nations You have made will come and bow before You, O Lord, and they will glorify Your name.
it leads to
- Revelation 15:4
Who will not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed.”
- Isaiah 66:23
From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come to worship before Me,” says the LORD.
- Revelation 11:15
Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 66:4
All the earth bows down to You; they sing praise to You; they sing praise to Your name.” Selah
- Isaiah 2:2–4
In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to…
- Revelation 15:4
Through
Isaiah 14:2The nations will escort Israel and bring it to its homeland. Then the house of Israel will possess the nations as menservants and maidservants in the LORD’s land. They will make captives of their…
it leads to
- Isaiah 61:5
Strangers will stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners will be your plowmen and vinedressers.
- 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…
- Isaiah 61:5
Through
Isaiah 49:12Behold, they will come from far away, from the north and from the west, and from the land of Aswan.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 43:5–6
Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east and gather you from the west.
- Isaiah 43:5–6
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.