Isaiah 61:8

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.)

Isaiah 61:8 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 61:8

For I the Lord love judgment
To do that which is right and just himself, and to see it done by others, and therefore he will right the wrongs of his people; and whereas the Jews, though they have justly suffered his vengeance for their sins, yet being reproached and abused beyond measure by the Gentiles, among whom they are dispersed; the Lord will look in mercy upon them, and will deliver and save them, and bestow favours plentifully on them, as in the preceding verse: or the Lord loves strict justice and real righteousness, and will not be put off with an imperfect righteousness in the room of a perfect one, and much less an insincere and hypocritical one, such as that of the unbelieving Jews, the pharisaical sect of them; nothing less is acceptable to God than a perfect righteousness, which is adequate to the demands of law and justice; and such a righteousness is not to be found among men, only in his Son Jesus Christ, and with which he is well pleased, ( Isaiah 42:21 ) :

I hate robbery for burnt offering;
that which is stolen, though it be converted into a burnt offering: or, "with a burnt offering" F3; all immorality, this being put for the whole, along with ceremonial sacrifices; as if it could be atoned for by them, or would be connived at on account of them: or,

by burnt offering;
expiation of theft, or any other sin, by the sacrifices of the law, being offered up without faith in Christ; and especially since the great sacrifice, the antitype of them, is offered up; and therefore God will have no more offered up, they are displeasing and hateful to him, ( Isaiah 1:12 Isaiah 1:13 ) ( Hebrews 10:5-8 ) :

and I will direct their work in truth;
appoint them work and service of a spiritual nature, and direct them, and enable them to perform it in spirit and in truth, in opposition to the carnal and shadowy ordinances of the ceremonial law; see ( John 4:23 John 4:24 ) :

and I will make an everlasting covenant with them;
that is, renew the everlasting covenant of grace with them, make it manifest unto them; apply the grace and bestow the blessings of it to and on them, ( Romans 11:25-27 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F3 (hlweb lzg) "rapinam conjunctam holocausto", Junius & Tremellius.

Isaiah 61:8 In-Context

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.)
9 And the seed of them shall be known among folks, and the burgeoning of them in the midst of peoples. All men that see them, shall know them, for these be the seed, whom the Lord blessed. (And their children, or their descendants, shall be known among the nations, and their burgeoning in the midst of the peoples. All who see them, shall know them, for these be the children, or the people, whom the Lord hath blessed.)
10 I joying shall have joy in the Lord, and my soul shall make full out joying in my God. For he hath clothed me with [the] clothes of health, and he hath compassed me with [the] clothes of rightfulness, as a spouse made fair with a crown, and as a spousess adorned with her brooches. (I rejoicing shall have joy in the Lord, and my soul shall rejoice in my God. For he hath clothed me with the clothes of salvation, or of deliverance, and he hath clothed me with the clothes of righteousness, like a spouse made handsome with a crown, and like a spousess adorned with her brooches, or her with jewels.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.