Isaiah 60:10
in Isaiah 60Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Although I struck you in anger, yet in favor I will show you mercy.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And foreigners shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favor have I had mercy on thee.
KJV
And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee.
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This verse in Isaiah 60
Commentary
9 notes on this verse(Verse 10 and following) And the sons of strangers will build your walls, and their kings will serve you. In my indignation I struck you, but in my mercy I have shown you compassion; and your gates will always be open, never closed day or night, so that the strength of the nations may come to you and their kings may be brought. Indeed, any nation or kingdom that does not serve you will perish, and the nations will be devastated. For because of my anger I struck you, and because of my mercy I have loved you.
This site's exposition
Foreigners will rebuild your walls
on Isaiah 60:10-12
“Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you” reverses conquest. Verse 11 gives the reversal a shape: “Your gates will always stand open”, words Revelation 21:25-26 carries forward. Verse 12 stands beside the promise: “For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish”.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Cyrus ordained the reconstruction of Jerusalem, but the work remained unfinished. Under Darius, the son of Hystapis, only the temple of God was reconstructed. Under Artaxerxes the Long-armed, Nehemiah—who was not a stranger but a Jew—was engaged in the reconstruction of the walls. The money …
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, he sets out the restoration of the city as to the building of walls: and the children of strangers; and first, as to the structures of the city; second, as to the structures of the temple: the glory of Libanus (Isa 60:13). Concerning the …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
): "All shall now make court to thee, for in my wrath I smote thee, while thou wast in captivity" (and the sufferings of the church, especially by its corruptions, decays, and divisions, against which these promises will be its relief, are sad tokens of God's displeasure), "But now in my favour have I had mercy on thee, and therefore have all this mercy in store for thee." II.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And the greatest of men should not think it below them to minister to the church, but rejoice that they are in a capacity, and have a heart, to do it any service. Nay, it is the duty of all to do what they can in their places to advance the interests of God's kingdom among men; it is at their peril if they do not; for (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Minister - Shall administer all necessaries to thee. I had mercy - As I afflicted thee in my anger, so out of my compassion I will abundantly bless thee.
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And the sons of strangers - They who have been devoted to a foreign and a false religion shall become devoted to the true religion, and engage in the service of the true God. Shall build up thy walls - Jerusalem is represented as a ruined city. Her walls had been thrown down, and were lying prostrate. In restoring her to her former magnificence, strangers and foreigners would lend their cheerful aid.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
and in my grace Because I favored you; in old French, en mon apayemant.
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. 6 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
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּבָנ֤וּ | uvanu | and they will rebuild | H1129 → | 376 times |
| בְנֵֽי־ | venei- | sons of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| נֵכָר֙ | nekhar | foreignness | H5236 → | 36 times |
| חֹמֹתַ֔יִךְ | chomotayikh | walls your | H2346 → | 133 times |
| וּמַלְכֵיהֶ֖ם | umalkheihem | and kings their | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| יְשָׁרְת֑וּנֶךְ | yesharetunekh | they will serve you | H8334 → | 97 times |
| כִּ֤י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| בְקִצְפִּי֙ | vekitzpi | in wrath my | H7110 → | 29 times |
| הִכִּיתִ֔יךְ | hikitikh | I struck you | H5221 → | 499 times |
| וּבִרְצוֹנִ֖י | uvirtzoni | and in favor my | H7522 → | 56 times |
| רִֽחַמְתִּֽיךְ׃ | richamtikh | I have had compassion on you | H7355 → | 47 times |
וּבָנ֤וּand they will rebuild
uvanuH1129 →376 times
בְנֵֽי־sons of
venei-H1121 →4930 times
נֵכָר֙foreignness
nekharH5236 →36 times
חֹמֹתַ֔יִךְwalls your
chomotayikhH2346 →133 times
וּמַלְכֵיהֶ֖םand kings their
umalkheihemH4428 →2525 times
יְשָׁרְת֑וּנֶךְthey will serve you
yesharetunekhH8334 →97 times
כִּ֤יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
בְקִצְפִּי֙in wrath my
vekitzpiH7110 →29 times
הִכִּיתִ֔יךְI struck you
hikitikhH5221 →499 times
וּבִרְצוֹנִ֖יand in favor my
uvirtzoniH7522 →56 times
רִֽחַמְתִּֽיךְ׃I have had compassion on you
richamtikhH7355 →47 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 49:23Kings 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;…
it leads to
- 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 60:16
You 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.
- Isaiah 60:3
Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
- Micah 7:17
They will lick the dust like a snake, like reptiles slithering on the ground. They will crawl from their holes in the presence of the LORD our God; they will tremble in fear of…
- Isaiah 45:14
This is what the LORD says: “The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, along with the Sabeans, men of stature, will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge…
- Isaiah 60:14
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.’”
- Isaiah 49:23
Kings 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;…
- Revelation 21:24
By its light the nations will walk, and into it the kings of the earth will bring their glory.
- Acts 13:47
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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 19:60.10 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.