Isaiah 60:4
in Isaiah 60Lift up your eyes and look around: They all gather and come to you; your sons will come from afar, and your daughters will be carried on the arm.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: they all gather themselves together, they come to thee; thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be carried in the arms.
KJV
Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.
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This verse in Isaiah 60
Commentary
9 notes on this verse(Verse 4.) Lift up your eyes all around and see: all these gathered together have come to you. Your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried at your side. LXX: Lift up your eyes all around and see: all your sons have gathered together. Your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on shoulders.
This site's exposition
Lift up your eyes and look around
on Isaiah 60:4-5
“Lift up your eyes” opens a scene of return: “your sons will come from afar”. Verse 5 names what the city feels, “your heart will tremble and swell with joy”, fear and gladness together. Two streams feed her: “the riches of the sea will be brought to you”.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
This does not easily apply to the Jews. For those who were captives did not all return.… But the church of God gathers its children from all the nations. And [they are] to be seen running toward Jerusalem from all the world, not in order …
"Lift up your eyes round about, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far, and your daughters shall be carried in the arms. Then you shall see and be radiant, your heart shall thrill and rejoice." He …
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, he describes their consolation by parts: and first he promises manifold prosperity; second, observation of justice: I will make your visitation peace (Isa 60:17). Concerning the first, he does two things: first, he sets out the state of prosperity; second, the manner of restitution, …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Those that are brought into the church by the grace of God will be sure to bring all they are worth in with them, which with themselves they will devote to the honour and service of God and do good with in their places. (1.) The merchants shall write holiness to the Lord upon their merchandise and their hire, as ch. xxiii.
Lift up thine eyes round about, and see,.... The Gentiles and kings coming to Christ and his church; the vast number of converts flocking from all parts of the world to join themselves to the church of Christ, and to behold the wonderful work of God among the Jews now converted.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Shall be nursed at thy side “Shall be carried at the side” - For תאמנה teamanah, shall be nursed, the Septuagint and Chaldee read תנשאנה tinnasenah, shall be carried. A MS. has על כתף תנשאנה al catheph tinnasenah, “shall be carried on the shoulder;” instead of על צד תאמנה al tsad teamanah, “shall be nursed on the side.” Another MS. has both כתף catheph and צד tsad. Another MS. has it thus: תאמנה:תנשאנה tinnasenah: teamanah, with a line drawn over the first word.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Lift up thine eyes - Jerusalem is here addressed as a female with eyes cast down from grief. She is directed to lift them up, and to see the great multitudes that were flocking to her. Wherever she could turn her eyes, she would behold them hastening to come to her. In this verse and the following verses, the prophet goes into a particular statement of what he referred to in general terms in Isa 60:3. The first thing which be specifies is, that the dispersed sons and daughters of the Jewish people would be gathered back. Thy sons shall come from far - They who have been driven into exile into distant lands shall again return. This is in accordance with the predictions so often made in Isaiah, that the scattered sons of the Jewish people would be again collected (see the notes at Isa 49:17-18.) And thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side - The Septuagint renders this, ‘And thy daughters shall be borne upon the shoulders’ (ἐπ ̓ ὤμων ἀρθήσονται ep' ōmōn arthēsontai). Lowth also says, that one manuscript reads it ‘upon shoulders,’ and another has both ‘shoulder’ and ‘side.’ The translation of the Septuagint, and these different readings of the manuscripts have probably been caused by the supposed improbability of the fact, that children were nursed or carried on the side (compare Isa 49:22). But Sir John Chardin says that it is the general custom in the East to carry the children astride upon the hip, with the arms around the body. The word, however, which is rendered ‘nursed’ in our translation (תאמנה tē'âmanâh from אמן 'âman), means, properly, “to stay, to sustain, support; to bear or carry a child” Num 11:12; hence, “to be faithful, firm.” It is not certain that it is in any instance used in the sense of nursing; but it more probably means here, they shall be borne. […]
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שְׂאִֽי־ | sei- | lift up | H5375 → | 656 times |
| סָבִ֤יב | saviv | all around | H5439 → | 336 times |
| עֵינַ֙יִךְ֙ | ʾeinayikh | eyes your | H5869 → | 887 times |
| וּרְאִ֔י | urei | and see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| כֻּלָּ֖ם | kulam | all of them | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| נִקְבְּצ֣וּ | nikbetzu | they have gathered together | H6908 → | 127 times |
| בָֽאוּ־ | vau- | they have come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| לָ֑ךְ | lakh | to you | ||
| בָּנַ֙יִךְ֙ | banayikh | sons your | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| מֵרָח֣וֹק | merachok | from a distance | H7350 → | 84 times |
| יָבֹ֔אוּ | yavou | they will come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| וּבְנֹתַ֖יִךְ | uvenotayikh | and daughters your | H1323 → | 588 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| צַ֥ד | tzad | a hip | H6654 → | |
| תֵּאָמַֽנָה׃ | teamanah | they will be carried | H539 → | 106 times |
שְׂאִֽי־lift up
sei-H5375 →656 times
סָבִ֤יבall around
savivH5439 →336 times
עֵינַ֙יִךְ֙eyes your
ʾeinayikhH5869 →887 times
וּרְאִ֔יand see
ureiH7200 →1300 times
כֻּלָּ֖םall of them
kulamH3605 →5413 times
נִקְבְּצ֣וּthey have gathered together
nikbetzuH6908 →127 times
בָֽאוּ־they have come
vau-H935 →2568 times
לָ֑ךְto you
lakh
בָּנַ֙יִךְ֙sons your
banayikhH1121 →4930 times
מֵרָח֣וֹקfrom a distance
merachokH7350 →84 times
יָבֹ֔אוּthey will come
yavouH935 →2568 times
וּבְנֹתַ֖יִךְand daughters your
uvenotayikhH1323 →588 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
צַ֥דa hip
tzadH6654 →
תֵּאָמַֽנָה׃they will be carried
teamanahH539 →106 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 42:6“I, the LORD, have called you for a righteous purpose, and I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a…
it leads to
- John 8:12
Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
- Luke 2:32
a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Your people Israel.”
- Isaiah 26:3
You will keep in perfect peace the steadfast of mind, because he trusts in You.
- Isaiah 49:8
This is what the LORD says: “In the time of favor I will answer You, and in the day of salvation I will help You; I will keep You and appoint You to be…
- 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.’”
- John 8:12
Through
Isaiah 49:18Lift up your eyes and look around. They all gather together; they come to you. As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “you will wear them all as jewelry and put them on…
it leads to
- Isaiah 54:1–3
“Shout for joy, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth in song and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her…
- Isaiah 61:10
I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom…
- Isaiah 66:12–13
For this is what the LORD says: “I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flowing stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm,…
- Isaiah 54:1–3
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 60:4-5; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 19:60.4-5 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.