The Meaning of Isaiah 30:18 Explained

Isaiah 30:18

KJV: And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.

YLT: And therefore doth wait Jehovah to favour you, And therefore He is exalted to pity you, For a God of judgment is Jehovah, O the blessedness of all waiting for Him.

Darby: And therefore will Jehovah wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he lift himself up, that he may have mercy upon you; for Jehovah is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.

ASV: And therefore will Jehovah wait, that he may be gracious unto you; and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for Jehovah is a God of justice; blessed are all they that wait for him.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And therefore will the LORD  wait,  that he may be gracious  unto you, and therefore will he be exalted,  that he may have mercy  upon you: for the LORD  [is] a God  of judgment:  blessed  [are] all they that wait  for him. 

What does Isaiah 30:18 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Yahweh is a God of justice; He will do what is right at the right time. Since He promised to bless His people, He will also, after punishing them for their lack of trust, extend grace and show compassion to them. So those who long for Him will experience blessing when their waiting is over.

Context Summary

Isaiah 30:18-33 - The Goodness Of God's Severity
Jerusalem refused God's invitation to return to Him and rest; they preferred to trust in Egyptian cavalry. Their Almighty Friend knew that this would end in disappointment, but He said that He would wait till they had exhausted every expedient and returned to Him. Then would He be gracious and have mercy. The results of repentance and forgiveness are set forth with singular beauty: no more tears; great grace; answered prayer; divine teaching; guidance in the right way; no more idols; good harvests and rich pasture-lands; the dumb creation benefiting by man's repentance; and thus, in Isaiah 30:26, we come to the light of the millennial dawn.
In Isaiah 30:27-33 Jehovah is represented as coming to avenge His people and to judge their enemies. Their welcoming gladness is compared in Isaiah 30:29 to the songs of the Hebrew festivals. What a magnificent description in Isaiah 30:30-31 of Jehovah as a man of war! Every stroke He inflicted on the foe would awaken the music of tabrets and harps in the temple at Zion. Tophet, near Jerusalem, was the place where refuse was burnt. The spiritual counterpart of its fire is ever burning up the waste-products of men and nations. [source]

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 30

1  The prophet threatens the people for their confidence in Egypt
8  And contempt of God's word
18  God's mercies toward his church
27  God's wrath and the people's joy, in the destruction of Assyria

What do the individual words in Isaiah 30:18 mean?

Therefore will wait Yahweh that He may be gracious to you and therefore He will be exalted that He may have mercy on you for a God of justice Yahweh [is] Blessed [are] all those who wait for Him -
וְלָכֵ֞ן יְחַכֶּ֤ה יְהוָה֙ לַֽחֲנַנְכֶ֔ם וְלָכֵ֥ן יָר֖וּם לְרַֽחֶמְכֶ֑ם כִּֽי־ אֱלֹהֵ֤י מִשְׁפָּט֙ יְהוָ֔ה אַשְׁרֵ֖י כָּל־ ח֥וֹכֵי לֽוֹ ס

יְחַכֶּ֤ה  will  wait 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: חָכָה  
Sense: to wait, wait for, await.
יְהוָה֙  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
לַֽחֲנַנְכֶ֔ם  that  He  may  be  gracious  to  you 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct, second person masculine plural
Root: חָנַן 
Sense: to be gracious, show favour, pity.
וְלָכֵ֥ן  and  therefore 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb
Root: כֵּן 
Sense: so, therefore, thus.
יָר֖וּם  He  will  be  exalted 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יָרוּם 
Sense: to rise, rise up, be high, be lofty, be exalted.
לְרַֽחֶמְכֶ֑ם  that  He  may  have  mercy  on  you 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Piel, Infinitive construct, second person masculine plural
Root: רָחַם  
Sense: to love, love deeply, have mercy, be compassionate, have tender affection, have compassion.
אֱלֹהֵ֤י  a  God 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
מִשְׁפָּט֙  of  justice 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: מִשְׁפָּט  
Sense: judgment, justice, ordinance.
יְהוָ֔ה  Yahweh  [is] 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
אַשְׁרֵ֖י  Blessed  [are] 
Parse: Interjection
Root: אֶשֶׁר 
Sense: happiness, blessedness.
ח֥וֹכֵי  those  who  wait 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural construct
Root: חָכָה  
Sense: to wait, wait for, await.
לֽוֹ  for  Him 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation