Isaiah 49:23
in Isaiah 49Kings 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; those who hope in Me will never be put to shame.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their faces to the earth, and lick the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah; and they that wait for me shall not be put to shame.
KJV
And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.
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This verse in Isaiah 49
Commentary
13 notes on this verseThen they shall bring in their arms, or on their shoulders, the sons of Zion, and her daughters shall be carried on their shoulders. Such was Lazarus, and all the saints who rest in the bosom of Abraham, and the souls of the believers, to whom the Apostle Paul spoke: I have fed you with milk.… The queen stood at your right hand in a gold embroidered garment; she nourishes Christ's little ones daily, and leads them to perfect age: and every age, sex, and dignity, will adore Zion because of Him who dwells in it.
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.”
This site's exposition
lick the dust at your feet
Barnes reads the kings as guardians who protect and provide for the people of God as a parent does a child. Henry names Constantine, his mother Helena and Theodosius as rulers who nursed the church. Wesley calls the bow an eastern custom.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
And all, even to our own day, stream toward Jerusalem, driven by the desire to see the three longed-for places of the cross, the resurrection and the ascension. Thus, it is from this church, gathered from across the earth and sea, that kings have become …
(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
And kings shall be your nursing fathers, providing for you in necessities: the Lord will bring them to you exalted with honor as children of the kingdom (Bar 5:6); third, as to the exaltation of the liberated people: they shall worship you with their face …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Lick the dust - They shall highly reverence and honour thee. These expressions are borrowed from the practice of the eastern people, who bowed so low as to touch the ground.
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.
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers,....
A ratification of the prophecy of the Jews' release out of Babylon, which was to be the figure and type of all these blessings,,
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And kings shall be thy nursing fathers - Margin, ‘Nourishers.’ That is, they would patronize the church of God; they would protect it by their laws, and foster it by their influence and become the personal advocates of the cause of Zion. The idea is properly that of guarding, educating, and proriding for children; and the sense is that kings and princes would evince the same tender care for the interests of the people of God which a parent or a nurse does for a child.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
lick . . . dust--that is, kiss thy feet in token of humble submission. for they . . . not . . . ashamed . . . wait for me--The restoration of Israel shall be in answer to their prayerful waiting on the Lord (Isa 30:18, 19;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
With their face toward the earth “With their faces to the earth” - It is well known that expressions of submission, homage, and reverence always have been and are still carried to a great degree of extravagance in the eastern countries. When Joseph’s brethren were introduced to him, “they bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth,” Gen 42:6. The kings of Persia never admitted any one to their presence without exacting this act of adoration; for that was the proper term for it. Necesse est, says the Persian courtier to Conon, si in conspectum veneris, venerari te regem; quod προσκυνειν illi vocant. “It is necessary, if thou shouldest come in sight, to venerate thee as king; which they call worshipping.” - Nepos in Conone. Alexander, intoxicated with success, affected this piece of oriental pride: Itaque more Persarum Macedonas venerabundos ipsum salutare, prosternentes humi corpora. “The Macedonians after the manner of the Persians, saluted their monarch with the ceremony of prostration.” - Curtius, lib. 8. The insolence of eastern monarchs to conquered princes, and the submission of the latter, is astonishing. Mr. Warmer, Observ. […]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָי֨וּ | vehayu | and they will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| מְלָכִ֜ים | melakhim | kings | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| אֹֽמְנַ֗יִךְ | ʾomenayikh | foster-fathers your | H539 → | 106 times |
| וְשָׂרֽוֹתֵיהֶם֙ | vesaroteihem | and princesses their | H8282 → | |
| מֵינִ֣יקֹתַ֔יִךְ | meinikotayikh | suckling-nurses your | H3243 → | 33 times |
| אַפַּ֗יִם | ʾapayim | faces | H639 → | 276 times |
| אֶ֚רֶץ | ʾeretz | ground | H776 → | 2504 times |
| יִשְׁתַּ֣חֲווּ | yishtachavu | they will bow down | H7812 → | 172 times |
| לָ֔ךְ | lakh | to you | ||
| וַעֲפַ֥ר | vaafar | and [the] dust of | H6083 → | 110 times |
| רַגְלַ֖יִךְ | raglayikh | feet your | H7272 → | 247 times |
| יְלַחֵ֑כוּ | yelachekhu | they will lick up | H3897 → | |
| וְיָדַ֙עַתְּ֙ | veyadaat | and you will know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֲנִ֣י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | [am] Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | whom | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יֵבֹ֖שׁוּ | yevoshu | they will be ashamed | H954 → | 127 times |
| קוָֹֽי׃ ס | kovai | [those who] wait for me | H6960 → | 49 times |
וְהָי֨וּand they will be
vehayuH1961 →3559 times
מְלָכִ֜יםkings
melakhimH4428 →2525 times
אֹֽמְנַ֗יִךְfoster-fathers your
ʾomenayikhH539 →106 times
וְשָׂרֽוֹתֵיהֶם֙and princesses their
vesaroteihemH8282 →
מֵינִ֣יקֹתַ֔יִךְsuckling-nurses your
meinikotayikhH3243 →33 times
אַפַּ֗יִםfaces
ʾapayimH639 →276 times
אֶ֚רֶץground
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
יִשְׁתַּ֣חֲווּthey will bow down
yishtachavuH7812 →172 times
לָ֔ךְto you
lakh
וַעֲפַ֥רand [the] dust of
vaafarH6083 →110 times
רַגְלַ֖יִךְfeet your
raglayikhH7272 →247 times
יְלַחֵ֑כוּthey will lick up
yelachekhuH3897 →
וְיָדַ֙עַתְּ֙and you will know
veyadaatH3045 →945 times
כִּֽי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אֲנִ֣יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
יְהוָ֔ה[am] Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhom
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יֵבֹ֖שׁוּthey will be ashamed
yevoshuH954 →127 times
קוָֹֽי׃ ס[those who] wait for me
kovaiH6960 →49 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
Isaiah 60:3Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
it leads to
- Acts 13:47
For 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.’”
- Revelation 21:24
By its light the nations will walk, and into it the kings of the earth will bring their glory.
- Isaiah 2:2–5
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…
- Micah 4:1–2
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 the peoples will stream to…
- Acts 13:47
Through
Isaiah 60:14The 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…
it leads to
- Revelation 3:9
Look at those who belong to the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews but are liars instead. I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know…
- Revelation 3:9
Through
Isaiah 60:16You 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.
it leads to
- Isaiah 66:14
When you see, you will rejoice, and you will flourish like grass; then the hand of the LORD will be revealed to His servants, but His wrath will be shown to His enemies.
- Isaiah 66:11–12
so that you may nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you may drink deeply and delight yourselves in her glorious abundance.
- Isaiah 61:6
But you will be called the priests of the LORD; they will speak of you as ministers of our God; you will feed on the wealth of nations, and you will boast in their…
- Isaiah 66:14
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 15:49.22-23 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.