Isaiah 65:23

23 They shall not travail in vain, neither they shall engender in(to) troubling; for it is the seed of them that be blessed of the Lord, and the cousins of them be with them. (They shall not labour in vain, nor shall they bring forth their children into trouble, or misfortune; for they be the children, or the descendants, of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring after them.)

Isaiah 65:23 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 65:23

They shall not labour in vain
As they do, who build houses, and enemies come and turn them out of them, and dwell in them themselves; or who plant vineyards, and sow their fields, and strangers come and devour them; or they are smitten with blasting and mildew: nor bring forth for trouble;
for death, as the Targum; or for a curse, as the Septuagint: the tense is, they shall not beget and bring forth children, that shall immediately die by some distemper or another, or be taken off by famine, sword, or pestilence, to the great grief and trouble of their parents; but these shall live, and outlive their parents, so that their death will never be a trouble to them: for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring
with them;
or, "they are a seed, the blessed of the Lord" F9; or, "they are the seed blessed of God", or "the Lord", as the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions; or, as the Targum,

``a seed whom the Lord hath blessed;''
a spiritual seed of the church, a seed raised up to serve the Lord, whom he blesses with temporal and spiritual blessings; and their offspring also, being made a spiritual seed by the grace of God, and succeeding them in the church, and treading in their steps.
FOOTNOTES:

F9 (hmh hwhy ykwrb erz yk) "quia [sunt] semens, benedicti Domini ipsi"; which tension is most agreeable to the accents.

Isaiah 65:23 In-Context

21 And they shall build houses, and shall inhabit them, and they shall plant vines, and shall eat the fruits of those.
22 They shall not build houses, and another shall inhabit, they shall not plant, and another shall eat; for why the days of my people shall be after the days of the tree, and the works of their hands shall be eld to my chosen men. (They shall not build houses, which another shall inhabit, and they shall not plant, what another shall eat; for the days of my people shall be like the many days of a tree, and the works of their hands shall be long lasting for my chosen ones.)
23 They shall not travail in vain, neither they shall engender in(to) troubling; for it is the seed of them that be blessed of the Lord, and the cousins of them be with them. (They shall not labour in vain, nor shall they bring forth their children into trouble, or misfortune; for they be the children, or the descendants, of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring after them.)
24 And it shall be, before that they cry, I shall hear; yet while they speak, I shall hear. (And it shall be, that before they even cry to me, I shall answer them; and while they speak, I shall listen to them.)
25 The wolf and the lamb shall be fed together, and a lion and an ox shall eat straw, and to a serpent (the) dust shall be his bread; they shall not harm, neither shall slay, in all mine holy hill, saith the Lord (they shall not do any harm, nor shall they kill, on all my holy hill, saith the Lord).
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.