Isaiah 51:5
in Isaiah 51My righteousness draws near, My salvation is on the way, and My arms will bring justice to the nations. The islands will look for Me and wait in hope for My arm.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
My righteousness is near, my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the peoples; the isles shall wait for me, and on mine arm shall they trust.
KJV
My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust.
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This verse in Isaiah 51
Commentary
12 notes on this verseIf we want to know the meaning of these words in the person of God and Father, then we say that he calls the Son "his righteousness." For we are saved in him … through his great mercy.… He is called "righteousness" and "salvation" and rightly so. For he has removed all evil from us and, freeing us from the chains of death, has led us into eternal life.… Those who were once weak and prostrate on the ground grasp his right hand and gain the hope of an unexpected salvation.
This site's exposition
for a law will go out from Me
on Isaiah 51:4-6
The LORD calls His people to listen, “for a law will go out from Me, and My justice will become a light to the nations”. Verse 6 sets the heavens and earth as passing things against the fixed thing: “My salvation will last forever, and My righteousness will never fail”.
This site's exposition
My righteousness draws near
Barnes, after Lowth, takes the righteousness that draws near as the LORD keeping faith with His people and His promises. Gill reads a righteous One, with the Vulgate, and applies it to Christ, where Grotius saw Cyrus. Cyril hears the Son in both words.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(Vers. 4, 5.) Listen to me, my people, and my tribe, listen to me: for the law will come forth from me, and my judgment will rest on the light of the nations. My righteous one is near, my savior has come forth, and my arms will judge the peoples. The islands will wait for me, and my arm will sustain them. LXX: Listen to me, listen to me, my people, and kings, give heed to me: for the law will come forth from me, and my judgment will be a light to the Gentiles.
He calls his power "arm": that which constitutes the greatest proof of divine power is to have conquered the world by the cross, by ignominy and by death; it is to have given fishermen, publicans, shoemakers as masters to philosophers and to rhetoricians; it is …
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, he sets out the nearness of the judgment: my just one is near at hand, namely, Cyrus, or Christ; my savior is gone forth, already in my foreknowledge, above: I have brought my justice near (Isa 46:13). Third, he sets out the usefulness of …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
My righteousness is near,.... These are either the words of God the Father, and to be understood not of his essential righteousness, nor of his vindictive justice; but of the righteousness of his Son, which he calls his own, because he approves and accepts of it, imputes and reckons it to his people, and with it justifies them. The words may be rendered, "my righteous One", as in the Vulgate Latin version; not Cyrus, as Grotius; but Christ, God's righteous servant, who was near to come in the flesh, in order to work righteousness.
My righteousness - My salvation, the redemption of all my people, Jews and Gentiles, which is the effect of his righteousness, his justice, faithfulness, or mercy. Is gone - Shall shortly go forth.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
These are called God's righteousness and his salvation, because of his contriving and bringing them about. The former is a righteousness which he will accept for us and accept us for, and a righteousness which he will work in us and graciously accept of. The latter is the salvation of the Lord, for it arises from him and terminates in him.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
My righteousness is near - The word ‘righteousness’ is used in a great variety of significations. Here it means, probably, the faithful completion of his promises to his people (Lowth). My salvation is gone forth - The promise of salvation is gone forth, and already the execution of that purpose is commenced. He would soon deliver his people; he would at no distant period extend salvation to all nations. And mine arm shall judge the people - That is, shall dispense judgment to them.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
righteousness . . . near--that is, faithful fulfilment of the promised deliverance, answering to "salvation" in the parallel clause (Isa 46:13; Ye follow after "righteousness"; seek it therefore, from Me, and you will not have far to go for it (Isa 51:1). arms--put for Himself;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
My righteousness is near - The word צדק tsedek, righteousness, is used in such a great latitude of signification, for justice, truth, faithfulness, goodness, mercy, deliverance, salvation, etc., that it is not easy sometimes to give the precise meaning of it without much circumlocution; it means here the faithful completion of God’s promises to deliver his people.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| קָר֤וֹב | karov | [is] near | H7138 → | 77 times |
| צִדְקִי֙ | tzidki | righteousness my | H6664 → | 119 times |
| יָצָ֣א | yatza' | it has gone out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| יִשְׁעִ֔י | yishi | salvation my | H3468 → | 36 times |
| וּזְרֹעַ֖י | uzeroai | and arms my | H2220 → | 91 times |
| עַמִּ֣ים | ʾamim | peoples | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| יִשְׁפֹּ֑טוּ | yishpotu | they will judge | H8199 → | 202 times |
| אֵלַי֙ | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אִיִּ֣ים | ʾiyim | islands | H339 → | 36 times |
| יְקַוּ֔וּ | yekavu | they will wait | H6960 → | 49 times |
| וְאֶל־ | veel- | and to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| זְרֹעִ֖י | zeroi | arm my | H2220 → | 91 times |
| יְיַחֵלֽוּן׃ | yeyachelun | they will hope ! | H3176 → |
קָר֤וֹב[is] near
karovH7138 →77 times
צִדְקִי֙righteousness my
tzidkiH6664 →119 times
יָצָ֣אit has gone out
yatza'H3318 →1067 times
יִשְׁעִ֔יsalvation my
yishiH3468 →36 times
וּזְרֹעַ֖יand arms my
uzeroaiH2220 →91 times
עַמִּ֣יםpeoples
ʾamimH5971 →1873 times
יִשְׁפֹּ֑טוּthey will judge
yishpotuH8199 →202 times
אֵלַי֙to me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 times
אִיִּ֣יםislands
ʾiyimH339 →36 times
יְקַוּ֔וּthey will wait
yekavuH6960 →49 times
וְאֶל־and to
veel-H413 →5510 times
זְרֹעִ֖יarm my
zeroiH2220 →91 times
יְיַחֵלֽוּן׃they will hope !
yeyachelunH3176 →
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 42:4He will not grow weak or discouraged before He has established justice on the earth. In His law the islands will put their hope.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 55:5
Surely you will summon a nation you do not know, and nations who do not know you will run to you. For the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, has bestowed glory…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 53:2–12
He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no stately form or majesty to attract us, no beauty that we should desire Him.
- Genesis 49:10
The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his.
- Isaiah 52:13–15
Behold, My Servant will prosper; He will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
- Isaiah 55:5
Through
Isaiah 46:13I am bringing My righteousness near; it is not far away, and My salvation will not be delayed. I will grant salvation to Zion and adorn Israel with My splendor.
it leads to
- Isaiah 12:2
Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. For the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and He also has become my salvation.”
- Isaiah 62:11
Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the ends of the earth, “Say to Daughter Zion: See, your Savior comes! Look, His reward is with Him, and His recompense goes before Him.”
- Isaiah 61:3
to console the mourners in Zion—to give them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair. So they will be…
- Isaiah 12:2
Through
Isaiah 60:9Surely the islands will wait for Me, with the ships of Tarshish in the lead, to bring your children from afar, with their silver and gold, to the honor of the LORD your God,…
it leads to
- Isaiah 2:16
against every ship of Tarshish, and against every stately vessel.
- Isaiah 2:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
About Isaiah
This page draws on 12 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); Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 4:5.51:5; 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 16:51.5 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.