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.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God speaks through the prophet to a restored Zion, following a vision of distant nations bringing wealth and captives to honor Him. The declaration marks a pivot from past judgment to imminent covenantal restoration.

The words — The Hebrew בְנֵי־נֵכָר (benei-nechar, "sons of foreignness") names the foreigners who will rebuild your walls (חֹמֹתַיִךְ), while מַלְכֵיהֶם יְשָׁרְתוּנֶךְ (malkehem yesaretnekh) declares their kings will serve you. The particle כִּי (ki) functions causally, grounding this reversal in the fact that God struck in wrath (בְּקִצְפִּי) but will now act in favor.

The thread — The pattern of foreign labor and royal submission appears in Isaiah 61:5 and Isaiah 49:23, where outsiders become plowmen and kings bow facedown. The sequence concludes in Revelation 21:26, where the glory and honor of the nations are brought into the holy city.

Why it lands — The passage requires a reader to accept that restoration follows judgment and that enemy nations become the instruments of rebuilding. It demands acknowledgment that the promised service and mercy originate solely from divine favor, not human initiative.

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

וּבָנ֤וּu./va.Nuand/ they will rebuild בְנֵֽי־ve.nei-sons of נֵכָר֙ne.Kharforeignness חֹמֹתַ֔יִךְcho.mo.Ta.yi/khwalls/ your וּמַלְכֵיהֶ֖םu./mal.khei./Hemand/ kings/ their יְשָׁרְת֑וּנֶךְye.sha.re.Tu.ne/khthey will serve/ you כִּ֤יkifor בְקִצְפִּי֙ve./kitz.P/iin/ wrath/ my הִכִּיתִ֔יךְhi.ki.Ti/khI struck/ you וּבִרְצוֹנִ֖יu./vi/r.tzo.N/iand/ in/ favor/ my רִֽחַמְתִּֽיךְ׃Ri.cham.Ti/khI have had compassion on/ you

King James Version

And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee.

Cross-references

Isaiah 61:5 Strangers will stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners will be your plowmen and vinedressers.
Isaiah 49:23 Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow to you facedown and lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in Me will never be put to shame.”
Revelation 21:26 And into the city will be brought the glory and honor of the nations.
Isaiah 14:1 For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob; once again He will choose Israel and settle them in their own land. The foreigner will join them and unite with the house of Jacob.
Isaiah 60:3 Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
Zechariah 6:15 Even those far away will come and build the temple of the LORD, and you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent Me to you. This will happen if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God.”
Revelation 21:24 By its light the nations will walk, and into it the kings of the earth will bring their glory.
Psalms 30:5 For His anger is fleeting, but His favor lasts a lifetime. Weeping may stay the night, but joy comes in the morning.
Isaiah 12:1 In that day you will say: “O LORD, I will praise You. Although You were angry with me, Your anger has turned away, and You have comforted me.
Isaiah 54:7 “For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will bring you back.