Isaiah 49:20

Isaiah 49:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.
• New International Version (NIV)The children born during your bereavement will yet say in your hearing, ‘This place is too small for us; give us more space to live in.’
• English Standard Version (ESV)The children of your bereavement will yet say in your ears: 'The place is too narrow for me; make room for me to dwell in.'
• New King James Version (NKJV)The children you will have, After you have lost the others, Will say again in your ears, ‘The place is too small for me; Give me a place where I may dwell.’

Context of Isaiah 49:20

18Look up, look around, and watch! All of your children are gathering together and returning to you. “I solemnly swear as I live,” declares the Lord, “you will wear all of them like jewels and display them on yourself as a bride would.” 19Though you are destroyed and demolished and your land is in ruins, you will be too crowded for ⌞your⌟ people now. Those who devoured you will be long gone. The children taken from you will say to you, “This place is too crowded for me. Make room for me to live here.” 21Then you will ask yourself, “Who has fathered these ⌞children⌟ for me? I was childless and unable to have children. I was exiled and rejected. Who raised these ⌞children for me⌟? I was left alone. Where have they come from?” 22This is what the Almighty Lord says: I will lift my hand ⌞to signal⌟ the nations. I will raise my flag for the people. They will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders.

Isaiah 49:20 word by word

ע֚וֹד יֹאמְר֣וּ בְאָזְנַ֔יִךְ בְּנֵ֖י שִׁכֻּלָ֑יִךְ צַר־לִ֥י הַמָּק֖וֹם גְּשָׁה־לִּ֥י וְאֵשֵֽׁבָה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• The childrenבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
• which thou shalt have, after thou hast lostשִׁכֻּלִיםshikkûlîym · bereavementH7923
• the other, shall sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• again in thine earsאֹ֫זֶן'ôzen · earH241
• The placeמָקוֹםmâqôm mâqôm meqômâh meqômâh · placeH4725
• too straitצַרtsar tsâr · narrowH6862
• for me: giveנָגַשׁnâgash · to approach: approachH5066
• to me that I may dwellיָשַׁבyâshab · to dwellH3427

Cross-references for Isaiah 49:20

• Isaiah 60:4“Look up, look around, and watch. All of your people assemble and come to you. Your sons come from far away. Your daughters are carried in their arms.
• Hosea 1:10“Yet, the Israelites will become as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore. No one will be able to measure them or count them. Wherever they were told, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be told, ‘You are the children of the living God.’
• Matthew 3:9Don’t think you can say, ‘Abraham is our ancestor.’ I can guarantee that God can raise up descendants for Abraham from these stones.
• Galatians 4:26But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.
• Isaiah 51:3So the Lord will comfort Zion. He will comfort all those who live among its ruins. He will make its desert like Eden. He will make its wilderness like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in it, thanksgiving and the sound of singing.
• Isaiah 54:1Sing with joy, you childless women who never gave birth to children. Break into shouts of joy, you women who never had birth pains. “There will be more children of women who have been deserted than there are children of married women,” says the Lord.
• Joshua 17:14Joseph’s descendants asked Joshua, “Why did you give us only one region for an inheritance? We have a lot of people because the Lord has blessed us.”
• 2 Kings 6:1The disciples of the prophets said to Elisha, “The place where we’re staying is too small for us.

Commentaries on Isaiah 49:20

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20The children which thou shalt have - The increase of the population shall be so great. After thou hast lost the other - Hebrew, The sons of thy widowhood.‘ That is, after thou hast lost those that have been killed in the wars, and those that have died in captivity in a distant land, there shall be again a great increase as if they were given to a widowed mother. And perhaps the general truth is taught here, that the persecution of the people of God will…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 18-23Verses 18-23 Zion is addressed as an afflicted widow, bereaved of her children. Numbers flock to her, and she is assured that they come to be a comfort to her. There are times when the church is desolate and few in number; yet its desolations shall not last for ever, and God will repair them. God can raise up friends for returning Israelites, even among Gentiles. They shall bring their children, and make them thy children. Let all deal tenderly and…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 19-21The population growth would extend beyond Israel to include people from other nations who turn to the Lord (see Isaiah 56:6–8; Revelation 7:9). make room: The increased population would need space far beyond Israel's traditional borders (see also Zechariah 2:4).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. children ... after ... other--rather, "the children of thy widowhood," that is, the children of whom thou hast been bereft during their dispersion in other lands (see on Is 47:8) [Maurer]. again--rather, "yet." give place--rather, "stand close to me," namely, in order that we may be the more able to dwell in in the narrow place [Horsley]. Compare as to Israel's spiritual children, and the extension of the gospel sphere, Ro 15:19, 24; 2Co 10:14-16. But…Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 49:20

• Church
• Gentiles
• Israel, Prophecies Concerning
• Jesus Continued
• Jesus, the Christ

In the dictionaries

• Church
• Forget
• Mouth
• Bereave; Bereaver; Bereft
• Isaiah
• Loss
• Mark, the Gospel According to
• Saviour
• Strait; Straiten; Straitly
• Isaiah, Book of

Commentaries on Isaiah 49

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings