Isaiah 61:5

Strangers will stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners will be your plowmen and vinedressers.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The prophet addresses a restored Israel, describing the immediate aftermath of national rebuilding when devastated cities are renewed.

The words — זָרִים (za.Rim) translates to strangers, and צֹאנְכֶם (tzon./Khem) means your flocks, establishing the literal agricultural roles assigned to outsiders.

The thread — This motif of foreign labor serving Israel appears in Isaiah 60:10 and stands in direct contrast to the alienation from Israel's commonwealth described in Ephesians 2:12.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that God reverses social hierarchies, requiring readers to accept that restoration operates through unexpected human agency rather than national isolation.

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

וְעָמְד֣וּve./'a.me.Duand/ they will stand זָרִ֔יםza.Rimstrangers וְרָע֖וּve./ra.'Uand/ they will shepherd צֹאנְכֶ֑םtzon./Khemflock[s]/ your וּבְנֵ֣יu./ve.Neiand/ sons of נֵכָ֔רne.Kharforeignness אִכָּרֵיכֶ֖ם'i.ka.rei./Khem[will be] farmers/ your וְכֹרְמֵיכֶֽם׃ve./kho.re.mei./Khemand/ vinedressers/ your

King James Version

And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.

Cross-references

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.
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.
Ephesians 2:12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.