Isaiah 65:23

23 electis meis non laborabunt frustra neque generabunt in conturbatione quia semen benedictorum Domini est et nepotes eorum cum eis

Isaiah 65:23 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 65:23

They shall not labour in vain
As they do, who build houses, and enemies come and turn them out of them, and dwell in them themselves; or who plant vineyards, and sow their fields, and strangers come and devour them; or they are smitten with blasting and mildew: nor bring forth for trouble;
for death, as the Targum; or for a curse, as the Septuagint: the tense is, they shall not beget and bring forth children, that shall immediately die by some distemper or another, or be taken off by famine, sword, or pestilence, to the great grief and trouble of their parents; but these shall live, and outlive their parents, so that their death will never be a trouble to them: for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring
with them;
or, "they are a seed, the blessed of the Lord" F9; or, "they are the seed blessed of God", or "the Lord", as the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions; or, as the Targum,

``a seed whom the Lord hath blessed;''
a spiritual seed of the church, a seed raised up to serve the Lord, whom he blesses with temporal and spiritual blessings; and their offspring also, being made a spiritual seed by the grace of God, and succeeding them in the church, and treading in their steps.
FOOTNOTES:

F9 (hmh hwhy ykwrb erz yk) "quia [sunt] semens, benedicti Domini ipsi"; which tension is most agreeable to the accents.

Isaiah 65:23 In-Context

21 et aedificabunt domos et habitabunt et plantabunt vineas et comedent fructum earum
22 non aedificabunt et alius habitabit non plantabunt et alius comedet secundum dies enim ligni erunt dies populi mei et opera manuum eorum inveterabunt
23 electis meis non laborabunt frustra neque generabunt in conturbatione quia semen benedictorum Domini est et nepotes eorum cum eis
24 eritque antequam clament ego exaudiam adhuc illis loquentibus ego audiam
25 lupus et agnus pascentur simul et leo et bos comedent paleas et serpenti pulvis panis eius non nocebunt neque occident in omni monte sancto meo dicit Dominus
The Latin Vulgate is in the public domain.