What Does Isaiah 56:7 Mean?
Them also will I bring to my set-apart mountain, and gladden them in my house of prayer. Their ascending offerings and their sacrifices shall be received with favor upon my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.THE KEY
God’s house is not merely open to all peoples; God brings them in and makes their arrival part of its joy.
THE MEANING
Those who see themselves as outside are brought into God’s holy space, and their presence is met with joy. Their offerings are received, while the house becomes a place of prayer open to all peoples.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
God’s presence is reserved for a narrow circle, and outsiders can only be tolerated at its edge.
THE ROOT
וַהֲבִיאוֹתִים
vahavi’otim
GROWS FROM
בוא
Come, enter; in the Hiphil form, cause to come or bring.
“bring” in this verse is vahavi’otim. The verse uses the Hiphil of בוא: God causes them to enter. Their place in the holy mountain is not merely permitted; they are brought in, and their arrival becomes part of the house’s joy.
ALSO GROWS
bo: Come or enter.
בּוֹא
The same root names the movement toward the place where the verse brings its people.
hevi: Bring or cause to come.
הֵבִיא
This is another Hiphil form of בוא, making explicit the active bringing expressed in the verse.
mavo: Entrance or entryway.
מָבוֹא
This noun from the same root gives the movement a threshold: the verse’s people are brought through the entrance into shared sacred space.
תְּפִלָּתִי
tefillati
GROWS FROM
פלל
Intercede or bring a matter before another; related forms also carry the sense of judging.
The house is named by תְּפִלָּה, a word from פלל, whose related forms include praying and interceding. Prayer here is the shared act at the heart of a house opened to all peoples.
ALSO GROWS
hitpallel: Pray or intercede.
הִתְפַּלֵּל
This verbal form from פלל makes prayer an act of bringing a matter before God.
mitpallel: One who prays.
מִתְפַּלֵּל
The same root names the people engaged in the house’s defining practice.
pelili: Judicial or legal.
פְּלִילִי
This related form reflects the root’s association with bringing a matter forward for judgment.
וְשִׂמַּחְתִּים
vesimmahtim
GROWS FROM
שמח
Rejoice or cause joy.
“gladden” in this verse is vesimmahtim. The verse does not only bring people into the house; it makes them joyful there. The root binds their joy to the act of receiving them, so their presence is part of what makes the house glad.
ALSO GROWS
simchah: Joy or gladness.
שִׂמְחָה
This noun shares the root and names the joy present in the verse.
sameach: Glad or joyful.
שָׂמֵחַ
This form describes the state of the people whom God makes joyful.
mesammeach: One who gladdens or brings joy.
מְשַׂמֵּחַ
This form echoes the verse’s active picture of God making the gathered people glad.
THE PATTERN
God draws people across boundaries into shared access, where their presence becomes part of the community’s worship.
Hear and respond in heaven, your settling place, and act according to all that the stranger calls to you for, so that all the peoples of the earth may perceive your name, to stand in awe of you, as your people Israel do; and that they may perceive that this house, which I have built, is called by your name.Let the nations be glad and ring out for joy, for you judge the peoples with alignment, and lead the nations upon the earth. Selah.But in every nation the one who lives in awe of him and works alignment is received by him.THE THREAD
They shall enter into my set-apart place, and they shall draw near to my table, to attend me, and they shall keep my watch.“Enter” in this verse comes from the same Hebrew root בוא as Isaiah’s “bring.” Isaiah extends that movement into the sanctuary to all peoples, whose arrival is met with joy.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
You can read any verse this way in the app, keep it as a card, and send it on.
A Bible app where you send verses from your keyboard and in Messages, and every verse has a Deep Dive.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us