Isaiah 66:13
in Isaiah 66As a mother comforts her son, so will I comfort you, and you will be consoled over Jerusalem.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
KJV
As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
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This verse in Isaiah 66
Commentary
12 notes on this verse(Verse 13, 14) Just as a mother caresses her child, so will I comfort you, and in Jerusalem you will find comfort. Your heart will rejoice and your bones will flourish like grass. The hand of the Lord will be known to his servants, and he will be angry with his enemies. The Septuagint translates 'servants' as 'those who fear' and 'enemies' as 'unbelievers'; the rest is the same. We learn from the example of mothers, who surpass all charity by nourishing their children with love in their arms, the mercy of the Creator towards his creatures.
This site's exposition
I will extend peace to her like a river
on Isaiah 66:12-14
“I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flowing stream” pictures plenty arriving by a steady channel. The comfort becomes personal, spoken by the LORD Himself: “As a mother comforts her son, so will I comfort you”.
This site's exposition
As a mother comforts her son
Barnes links the image to 49:15, where the care of the LORD for Zion exceeds a mother's care for her nursing child. Jerome says the love of mothers who nurse their children teaches the mercy of the Creator. Spurgeon applies the promise to Israel and all God's servants.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A mother draws her children near her; we seek our mother, the church. Whatever is weak and young has an appeal and sweetness and lovableness of its own, just because in its weakness it does stand in need of assistance. But God does not withhold assistance from such an age of life. Just as the male and female parent regard their young tenderly—whether it be horses their colts, or cows their calves, or lions their cubs, or deer their fawn or men and women their children—so, too, does the Father of all draw near to those who seek his aid, giving them a new birth and making them his own adopted children. He recognizes them as his little ones, he loves only them, and he comes to the aid of such as these and defends them. That is why he calls them his children.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, as to divine protection: as one whom the mother caresses: you have forgotten the consolation (Heb 12:5).
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
He that, &c. - Solomon, Prov. xv, 8, gives a full commentary on the whole verse; The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. As if - From hence it is plain, that the prophet is not here reflecting upon idolatrous worship, but formal worship: upon those who in a formality worshipped the true God, and by acts which he had appointed.
When you see such crowding for a share in those comforts you shall be the more solicitous and the more vigorous to secure your share, not for fear of having the less for others coming in to partake of Christ" (there is no danger of that; he has enough for all and enough for each), "but their zeal shall provoke you to a holy jealousy. " It is well when it does so, Rom. xi.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you,....
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Many of the expressions here used are accommodated to that glorious dispensation; but doubtless the prophecy looks further, to the judgment for which Christ did come once, and will come again, into this world, and to the distinction which his word in both makes between the precious and the vile.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3189: “The Tenderness of God's Comfort” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
WE do not intend entering into a discussion of the context and its relationship literally to the Jewish people. We have never hesitated to assert our conviction that there are great blessings in store for God's ancient Israel and that the day shall come when her comfort shall abound, when the glory of the Gentiles shall flow to her like a flowing stream and she shall be comforted by her God as one whom his mother comforts.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3189: “The Tenderness of God's Comfort” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
WE do not intend entering into a discussion of the context and its relationship literally to the Jewish people. We have never hesitated to assert our conviction that there are great blessings in store for God's ancient Israel and that the day shall come when her comfort shall abound, when the glory of the Gentiles shall flow to her like a flowing stream and she shall be comforted by her God as one whom his mother comforts. But we believe that these passages are applicable to all the servants of God, that the comfortable passages of Scriptures are theirs, that whether Jew or Gentile, bond or free, barbarian or Greek, we are all one in Christ Jesus—and all the promises are ours in Him—for in Him all the promises are, "yes," and, "amen." I believe, then, that this passage belongs to every child of God. It is well that there is such a promise as this on record, for Believers need comfort. They need comfort because they are men and, "man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward." There has been a great necessity for consolation ever since the time when man was expelled from Eden. Men need comfort because they are but men. Although favored by God, elected by His Sovereignty and called by His Divine Grace into a peculiar state of acceptance, they are still in the body and they are made to feel it—being tempted in all points as other men are and in some points peculiarly tried.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
As one whom his mother comforteth - See the notes at Isa 49:15, where the same image occurs.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
and like a flooding stream I extend to her the wealth of the nations.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
and the hand of the Lord shall be known When He wreaks His vengeance and His awesome acts, His servants shall know the strength of the might of His hand.
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
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כְּאִ֕ישׁ | keish | like a person | H376 → | 1663 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | whom | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אִמּ֖וֹ | ʾimo | mother his | H517 → | 220 times |
| תְּנַחֲמֶ֑נּוּ | tenachamenu | she comforts him | H5162 → | 108 times |
| כֵּ֤ן | ken | so | H3651 → | 771 times |
| אָֽנֹכִי֙ | ʾanokhi | I | H595 → | 359 times |
| אֲנַ֣חֶמְכֶ֔ם | ʾanachemkhem | I will comfort you | H5162 → | 108 times |
| וּבִירֽוּשָׁלִַ֖ם | uvirushalim | and in Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| תְּנֻחָֽמוּ׃ | tenuchamu | you will be comforted | H5162 → | 108 times |
כְּאִ֕ישׁlike a person
keishH376 →1663 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhom
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אִמּ֖וֹmother his
ʾimoH517 →220 times
תְּנַחֲמֶ֑נּוּshe comforts him
tenachamenuH5162 →108 times
כֵּ֤ןso
kenH3651 →771 times
אָֽנֹכִי֙I
ʾanokhiH595 →359 times
אֲנַ֣חֶמְכֶ֔םI will comfort you
ʾanachemkhemH5162 →108 times
וּבִירֽוּשָׁלִַ֖םand in Jerusalem
uvirushalimH3389 →643 times
תְּנֻחָֽמוּ׃you will be comforted
tenuchamuH5162 →108 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
2 Corinthians 1:4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
it leads to
- Isaiah 51:12
“I, even I, am He who comforts you. Why should you be afraid of mortal man, of a son of man who withers like grass?
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:11
Therefore encourage and build one another up, just as you are already doing.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:16–17
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who by grace has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope,
- 2 Corinthians 7:6–7
But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the arrival of Titus,
- Isaiah 40:1
“Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God.
- Isaiah 51:12
Through
Isaiah 40:1“Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God.
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 1:4
who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
- Isaiah 51:3
For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness…
- Zephaniah 3:14–17
Sing for joy, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem!
- 2 Corinthians 1:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Isaiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 10 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); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3189: “The Tenderness of God's Comfort” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor Book 1; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; 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 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.