Bible Strands
Isaiah 56:6
And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD to minister to Him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be His servants—all who keep the Sabbath without profaning it and who hold fast to My covenant—
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh speaks to foreigners who seek to join themselves to Him within the context of temple inclusion and covenant loyalty. This declaration follows a promise of honor for eunuchs and precedes a guarantee of acceptance for foreign worshipers.
The words — נִלְוִים (nilvim) means "who join themselves," and אֶת־ (et-) functions as a direct object marker for the verb "to love." These terms frame the foreigners' active commitment to Yahweh and His name.
The thread — The motif of foreigners joining themselves to the LORD appears in Jeremiah 50:5, while the emphasis on Sabbath-keeping without profanation recurs in Isaiah 56:2 and 58:13. These passages collectively establish covenant boundary markers for non-Israelites.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to examine whether their religious practice includes faithful Sabbath observance and active covenant loyalty. It demands that outsiders and insiders alike demonstrate their devotion through concrete obedience rather than mere association.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 50:5 They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will come and join themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.
- Isaiah 56:2 Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without profaning it and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”
- Isaiah 58:13 If you turn your foot from breaking the Sabbath, from doing as you please on My holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight, and the LORD’s holy day honorable, if you honor it by not going your own way or seeking your own pleasure or speaking idle words,
- Isaiah 44:5 One will say, ‘I belong to the LORD,’ another will call himself by the name of Jacob, and still another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD’s,’ and will take the name of Israel.”
- Galatians 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. What matters is faith expressing itself through love.
- James 2:5 Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?
- Mark 12:30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
- Acts 2:41 Those who embraced his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to the believers that day.
- Revelation 1:10 On the Lord’s day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,
- Isaiah 60:10 Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Although I struck you in anger, yet in favor I will show you mercy.