Section 160 of 17461:4–9Isaiah

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King James VersionIsaiah 61:4–9

And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.

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

But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.

For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.

For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed.

Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.

Scripture text: King James Version, Standardized 1769 text. Public domain in the United States.About this Bible text

Isaiah 61:4–9

Ruins Are Rebuilt amid Priestly and Economic Reversal

They shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations

Ancient wastes are rebuilt. Strangers are pictured as shepherds and vinedressers while the people are called priests of the Lord, ministers of our God. Shame's double portion reverses into joy's double portion. Because I the Lord love justice, I hate robbery and wrong; I will give them their recompense in faithfulness and an everlasting covenant. Their descendants will be known among the nations; all who see them will recognize that they are a people the Lord has blessed.

Priestly identity for a whole people is dignity after shame, not a caste grab. Foreign labor in the poem is the rhetoric of reversed fortune for a community that had been the laborers. It must not authorize racial hierarchy, forced labor, colonial extraction, or religious entitlement. Justice and hatred of robbery are the moral engine.

Known descendants matter more than the job chart. A warranted life is to rebuild what generations wrecked, to love justice enough to hate the robbery in our own accounts, and to seek a recognizable blessing that is not other people's unpaid work.

How this should shape us

Rebuild what generations wrecked, hate the robbery in your own accounts, and seek a blessing that is not other people's unpaid labor.

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Explain Isaiah 61:4–9 in your own words. Name its place in Isaiah, one source-controlled observation, one uncertainty, one enduring truth, and one harmful use the passage does not authorize.

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The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.

Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties

Where do responsible readings differ?

Best judgment: The labor and wealth imagery does not authorize racial hierarchy, forced labor, colonial extraction, or religious entitlement.

How certain? strong

Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.

Isaiah 61:4–9, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Isaiah

Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology at the exact unit, without treating morphology as apparatus, lexicon, composition history, or interpretation.

Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Isa.xml, OSIS 61:4–9 with Hebrew/KJV versification difference checked

NET Bible Notes: Isaiah

Supports: Verse-level controls for Hebrew, syntax, poetry, older KJV language, chronology, names, textual issues, and material translation alternatives.

Official NET Isaiah PDF, translator, study, and textual notes attached to Isaiah 61:4–9 in the complete 205-page book PDF

Isaiah course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, themes, and reception

Supports: Whole-book historical, literary, theological, ethical, and reception synthesis across Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, and postexilic horizons.

Enter the Bible Isaiah course, Outline Book 3B and themes of Zion, nations, liberty, and comfort; applied to Isaiah 61:4–9

Anti-Judaism in Christian Teaching and Preaching

Supports: Controls against caricaturing Judaism, Torah-as-legalism claims, blanket condemnation, Gentile boasting, and supersessionist misuse.

Skinner, 'Anti-Judaism in Christian Teaching and Preaching,' Working Preacher (2008), complete essay categories and guidance; applied to the reception risks in Isaiah 61:4–9

Sources for This Section

These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.

Biblical text

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society

USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.

Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.

Exact location: Isaiah 61:4–9, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus

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hebrew text and morphology

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Isaiah

Open Scriptures

Open Scriptures, release 2.2

Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology at the exact unit, without treating morphology as apparatus, lexicon, composition history, or interpretation.

Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Isa.xml, OSIS 61:4–9 with Hebrew/KJV versification difference checked

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translation and translator notes

NET Bible Notes: Isaiah

Biblical Studies Press

Biblical Studies Press, 2016; current official PDF

Supports: Verse-level controls for Hebrew, syntax, poetry, older KJV language, chronology, names, textual issues, and material translation alternatives.

Exact location: Official NET Isaiah PDF, translator, study, and textual notes attached to Isaiah 61:4–9 in the complete 205-page book PDF

Open the official NET Isaiah PDF ↗

modern scholarly book course

Isaiah course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, themes, and reception

Fred Gaiser; revised by Michael Chan

Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, revised August 2024

Supports: Whole-book historical, literary, theological, ethical, and reception synthesis across Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, and postexilic horizons.

Exact location: Enter the Bible Isaiah course, Outline Book 3B and themes of Zion, nations, liberty, and comfort; applied to Isaiah 61:4–9

Open the Enter the Bible Isaiah course ↗

scholarly ethical reception guidance

Anti-Judaism in Christian Teaching and Preaching

Matt Skinner

Working Preacher, Luther Seminary, 2008

Supports: Controls against caricaturing Judaism, Torah-as-legalism claims, blanket condemnation, Gentile boasting, and supersessionist misuse.

Exact location: Skinner, 'Anti-Judaism in Christian Teaching and Preaching,' Working Preacher (2008), complete essay categories and guidance; applied to the reception risks in Isaiah 61:4–9

Open Skinner's anti-Judaism guidance ↗