Isaiah 54:3
in Isaiah 54For you will spread out to the right and left; your descendants will dispossess the nations and inhabit the desolate cities.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For thou shalt spread abroad on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall possess the nations, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
KJV
For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
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This verse in Isaiah 54
Commentary
9 notes on this verseHe accordingly bids the barren one to fill the world with houses of prayer and to make them left and right, that is to say, in the south and the north. One is not, however, mistaken if one gives the name of "stakes" to the …
This site's exposition
Shout for joy, O barren woman
on Isaiah 54:1-3
The command to sing falls on a childless woman, and Paul quotes the verse at Galatians 4:27 of Sarah and the Jerusalem above. The desolate woman is promised more children than the married wife, which the older writers tie to a people gathered from the nations.
This site's exposition
spread out to the right and left
Theodoret reads right and left as south and north, and hears the barren woman told to fill the earth with houses of prayer. Thomas Aquinas dates a fulfilment to the Maccabees. Matthew Henry reads the nations her descendants will dispossess as the nations the apostles made disciples.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Vers. 2, 3.) Dilata locum tentorii tui, et pelles tabernaculorum tuorum extende: ne parcas: longos fac funiculos tuos, et clavos tuos consolida. Ad dexteram enim et ad laevam penetrabis, et semen tuum gentes haereditabit, et civitates desertas inhabitabit. LXX: Dilata locum tabernaculi tui, et pelles aulaeorum tuorum fige, ne parcas. Protende funiculos, et clavos tuos conforta adhuc in dextris, et in sinistris dilata, et semen tuum possidebit gentes, et civitates desertas habitare facies. To whom he had said: Praise, O barren one, who does not bear; break the bonds by which you were previously bound, and shout in confession of the Lord, whom you did not have children with, now you are commanded the same as the likeness of the tent of Moses, which he once had (Exodus 36) in the desert, to expand his tent and stretch out his skins; and make longer cords and fix nails, with which the entire tent is formed, so that it may be firmly set and strengthened, lest it be dispersed by the blasts of the wind. And it should extend to both the right and the left, and by no means should it imitate the narrowness of the Jewish tabernacle, which measured one hundred cubits in length and fifty in width, nor should it be constrained by the brevity of the Temple, which had sixty cubits in length and twenty in width. But it should continue to have space on the right and on the left. (Exodus 27). And so that we may not think this can be said in vain concerning the frivolous contention of the Hebrews about Zion, which is to be restored to its ancient state by the Lord, he explains more clearly what was hidden: And your offspring shall inherit the nations. About which we also read in the Gospel: 'He went out who sows to sow' (Matthew XIII, 3); and again: 'Did you not sow good seed in your field?' (Ibid., 27)? […]
The Medieval Church1 voice
979. Third, he foretells their fulfillment of the exhortation: for you shall pass on to the right hand, and to the left, as if to say: you shall increase in every direction. This was fulfilled in the time of the Maccabees, when certain cities of …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Thus it was in the first preaching of the gospel; it was the business of the apostles to disciple all nations, to stretch forth the curtains of the church's habitation, to preach the gospel where Christ had not yet been named ( Rom. xv.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
For thou shall break forth on the right hand and on the left,....
That though sometimes God might seem to withdraw from her, and suspend the tokens of his favour, he would return in mercy and would not return to contend with them any more,
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For thou shalt break forth - (See the notes at Isa 49:19-20). And make the desolate cities - (See the notes at Isa 44:26).
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יָמִ֥ין | yamin | right | H3225 → | 140 times |
| וּשְׂמֹ֖אול | usemol | and left | H8040 → | |
| תִּפְרֹ֑צִי | tifrotzi | you will spread out | H6555 → | |
| וְזַרְעֵךְ֙ | vezarekh | and offspring your | H2233 → | 229 times |
| גּוֹיִ֣ם | goyim | nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| יִירָ֔שׁ | yirash | he will take possession of | H3423 → | 231 times |
| וְעָרִ֥ים | vearim | and cities | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| נְשַׁמּ֖וֹת | neshamot | desolated | H8074 → | 86 times |
| יוֹשִֽׁיבוּ׃ | yoshivu | they will cause to be inhabited | H3427 → | 1079 times |
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
יָמִ֥יןright
yaminH3225 →140 times
וּשְׂמֹ֖אולand left
usemolH8040 →
תִּפְרֹ֑צִיyou will spread out
tifrotziH6555 →
וְזַרְעֵךְ֙and offspring your
vezarekhH2233 →229 times
גּוֹיִ֣םnations
goyimH1471 →561 times
יִירָ֔שׁhe will take possession of
yirashH3423 →231 times
וְעָרִ֥יםand cities
vearimH5892 →1090 times
נְשַׁמּ֖וֹתdesolated
neshamotH8074 →86 times
יוֹשִֽׁיבוּ׃they will cause to be inhabited
yoshivuH3427 →1079 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies6
On this verse
About Isaiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 17:54.2 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.