Isaiah 65:21

Isa 65:21 And they shall build houses, and inhabit [them]; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.

Ver. 21. And they shall build houses and inhabit them.] The contrary whereunto is threatened against the wicked. {Deu 28:30-68} God’s people are freed from the curse of the law, from the hurt, if not from the smart of afflictions.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Isa 65:21-23. They shall build houses and inhabit them — The prophet here describes another privilege of the church in these happy days. They shall enjoy blessings the very reverse of the curses denounced on the disobedient, Deu 28:30. They shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. See note on Isa 62:8. They shall not plant and another eat — Which might happen, either through their enemies seizing the fruits of the trees they planted, or through their own premature death before those fruits were brought to perfection. For as the days of a tree are the days of my people — Not like the fading of a leaf, to which our present frail state is often compared, but their age shall equal the duration of the trees planted by them; yea, of the oaks, the most long-lived of trees, supposed to last about a thousand years, being five hundred years growing to full perfection, and as many decaying; “which,” says Bishop Lowth, “seems to be a moderate and probable computation.” The LXX. translate this clause, γαρ τας ημερας του ξυλου της ζωης εσυνται αι ημεραι του λαου μου; As the days of the tree of life shall be the days of my people. They shall not labour in vain — As those do who do not enjoy the fruit of their labour; nor bring forth — Beget and bring forth children; for trouble — Those that shall give them trouble by their bad conduct, or by the poverty and misery in which they shall be involved; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, &c. — There is a blessing entailed upon them by descent from their ancestors, which their offspring with them shall partake of; who shall be a comfort to them, and whom they shall have the happiness to see walking in the truth.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He proposeth to the faithful the blessings which are contained in the Law, and so under temporal things comprehendeth the spiritual promises.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

(See on Isa 62:8; Amo 9:14).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(21) They shall build houses . . .—The proverbial type of national security and peace, as the opposite was of national misfortune (Lev_26:16; Deu_28:30).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21, 22. In consequence of this extension of the term of life, each man shall enjoy the fruit of his own labour (cf. Deu_28:30). The idea is therefore somewhat different from that of ch. Isa_62:8-9.

as the days of a tree] Cf. Psa_92:12-13.

mine elect (= my chosen, Isa_65:15) shall long enjoy &c.] lit. “shall wear out,” “use up” (Job_21:13).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And they shall build houses, and inhabit them,.... In Jerusalem, and other parts of Judea: though this need not be limited to the Jews, but be considered as reaching to all the Lord's people, the Gentiles also; who will be in no fear of enemies, or ever be disturbed by them, but shall dwell in their own houses peaceably and quietly; this is the reverse of what is threatened to the wicked, Deu 28:30,

and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them; they shall both live to dwell in their houses when built, and till their vineyards bring forth fruit, and then eat of them; and they shall be preserved from enemies breaking in upon them, and wasting their plantations.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And they shall build houses - (See the notes at Isa 62:8-9).

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The quite contrary to what is said of the slothful man, Pro 12:27; see Job 27:13-17.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

21, 22. Not build, and another inhabit — As against Deu_28:15-68, and Lev_26:14-46, (which see,) here is a promise of permanent blessedness in the new order of things. Like Lebanon’s cedars, symbols of everlastingness, so shall the lives of the righteous go on to indefinite years. The final grand Messianic period shall yield unceasing enjoyment.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They shall build houses, and inhabit them. The curse pronounced on apostasy in Deu_28:30 shall no more rest on God"s people. They shall have the fruition of their labours. No enemy shall be able to deprive them of their crops and houses.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In the place of the threatened curses of the law in Lev 26:16 (cf., Deu 28:30), the very opposite will now receive their fullest realization. "And they will build houses and inhabit them, and plant vineyards and enjoy the fruit thereof. They will not build and another inhabit, nor plant and another enjoy; for like the days of trees are the days of my people, ad my chosen ones will consume the work of their hands. They will not weary themselves in vain, nor bring forth for sudden disaster; for they are a family of the blessed of Jehovah, and their offspring are left to them." They themselves will enjoy what they have worked for, without some one else stepping in, whether a countryman by violence or inheritance, or a foreigner by plunder or conquest (Isa 62:8), to take possession of that which they have built and planted (read יטעוּ without dagesh); for the duration of their life will be as great as that of trees (i.e., of oaks, terebinths, and cedars, which live for centuries), and thus they will be able thoroughly to enjoy in their own person what their hands have made. Billâh does not mean merely to use and enjoy, but to use up and consume. Work and generation will be blessed then, and there will be no more disappointed hopes. They will not weary themselves (יגעוּ with a preformative י without that of the root) for failure, not get children labbehâlâh, i.e., for some calamity to fall suddenly upon them and carry them away (Lev 26:16, cf., Psa 78:33). The primary idea of bâhal is either acting, permitting, or bearing, with the characteristic of being let loose, of suddenness, of overthrow, or of throwing into confusion. The lxx renders it εἰς κατάραν, probably according to the Egypto-Jewish usage, in which behâlâh may have signified cursing, like bahle, buhle in the Arabic (see the Appendices). The two clauses of the explanation which follows stand in a reciprocal relation to the two clauses of the previous promise. They are a family of the blessed of God, upon whose labour the blessing of God rests, and their offspring are with them, without being lost to them by premature death. This is the true meaning, as in Job 21:8, and not "their offspring with them," i.e., in like manner, as Hitzig supposes.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

“And they shall build houses and inhabit (them), and shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them, they shall not build and another inhabit, they shall not plant and another eat; for as the days of a tree (shall be) the days of my people, and the work of their hands my chosen ones shall wear out (or survive).” This is a promise of security and permanent enjoyment, clothed in expressions drawn from the promises and threatenings of the Mosaic law. By the age of a tree is generally understood the great age which some species are said to attain, such as the oak, the banyan, etc. The essential idea is in that of permanent continuance, and the figures here used to express it make it still more probable that in the whole foregoing context the predictions are to be figuratively understood.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And they shall build houses, etc. That is, they will be in safety, for there will be no enemy, as explained in the next verse; or, they will build houses, and dwell therein for a long time, while those that die in war are not so happy.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.