Isaiah 61:6

6 But ye shall be called the priests of the Lord; it shall be said to you, Ye be ministers of our God. Ye shall eat the strength of heathen men, and ye shall be honoured in the glory of them. (But ye shall be called the priests of the Lord; it shall be said of you, Ye be the ministers, or the servants, of our God. Ye shall eat the wealth of the heathen, and ye shall glory in that.)

Isaiah 61:6 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 61:6

But ye shall be named the priests of the Lord
Or, "and ye shall be named" which Jerom understands of the builders of cities, pastors of flocks, the ploughmen and vinedressers, the strangers and the sons of the alien, that these also should be called priests: but rather it designs the Jews, when they shall be called and converted, and when there will be no more the distinction of priests and common people, but they shall all be kings and priests unto God, a royal priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices to him, all ceremonial ones being at an end: men shall call you the ministers of our God;
Christian men shall call, own, and acknowledge you to be the servants of Christ, of Immanuel, God with us, having professed faith in him, and submitted to his ordinances: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles;
converted Gentiles, who shall join themselves with Jewish converts in the same church state; who shall bring their wealth with them, and with it support the interest of Christ; see ( Isaiah 60:5 Isaiah 60:9 Isaiah 60:11 Isaiah 60:16 Isaiah 60:17 ) , or this may be understood of their spiritual riches, the unsearchable riches of Christ revealed in the Gospel, which the Gentiles have long possessed, but now the Jews shall have a share with them: and in their glory shall you boast yourselves;
not in being the seed of Abraham, as formerly; in birth privileges, in carnal rites and ceremonies, such as circumcision and others; but in what is the glory of the Gentiles, Christ himself, who is their glory, and of whom they glory; as also his Gospel, and the ordinances of it, which are the glory of every nation possessed of them: or, "ye shall delight yourselves" F26; in the Lord; in communion and conversation with his people, and in the enjoyment of the privileges of his house with them: or, "ye shall lift up or exalt yourselves", or "be exalted" F1; to the same degree of honour and glory, being all kings and priests unto God.


FOOTNOTES:

F26 (wrmytt) "oblectabitis", Tigurine, version. So the Targum.
F1 "Summe efferetis vos", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Vitringa; "exaltabimini", Munster, Pagninus. So Ben Melech, and R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 89. 2.

Isaiah 61:6 In-Context

4 And they shall build (again) things that be forsaken from the world, and they shall raise (up) eld fallings, and they shall restore cities that be forsaken and destroyed, in generation and into generation.
5 And aliens shall stand, and feed your beasts; and the sons of pilgrims shall be your earth-tillers and vine-tillers. (And foreigners shall serve thee, and shall feed your beasts; and the sons of foreigners shall be your farmers and your vine-growers.)
6 But ye shall be called the priests of the Lord; it shall be said to you, Ye be ministers of our God. Ye shall eat the strength of heathen men, and ye shall be honoured in the glory of them. (But ye shall be called the priests of the Lord; it shall be said of you, Ye be the ministers, or the servants, of our God. Ye shall eat the wealth of the heathen, and ye shall glory in that.)
7 For your double shame and shame, they shall praise the part of them; for this thing they shall have peaceably double things in their land, and everlasting gladness shall be to them. (For your double shame, ye shall now have good things in double, and ye shall praise your portion; yea, because of this, ye shall have good things in double in your own land, and everlasting happiness shall be to you.)
8 For I am the Lord, loving doom, and hating raven in burnt sacrifices. And I shall give the work of them in truth, and I shall smite to them an everlasting bond of peace. (For I am the Lord, loving justice, or judgement, and hating stolen things used for burnt sacrifices. And I shall direct their work in truth/And I shall grant them a true reward, and I shall strike an everlasting covenant with them.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.