The Meaning of Isaiah 55:3 Explained

Isaiah 55:3

KJV: Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

YLT: Incline your ear, and come unto me, Hear, and your soul doth live, And I make for you a covenant age-during, The kind acts of David -- that are stedfast.

Darby: Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the sure mercies of David.

ASV: Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Incline  your ear,  and come  unto me: hear,  and your soul  shall live;  and I will make  an everlasting  covenant  with you, [even] the sure  mercies  of David. 

What does Isaiah 55:3 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Again the Lord urged the hearers (everyone) to come to Him. He pressed them to listen to what He was saying, twice. God Himself is the feast. The result for them would be life, real life as opposed to the vain life described above ( Isaiah 55:2). Real life would involve living under an everlasting covenant that God would make with His people. This is probably a reference to the New Covenant, since the implication is that God would make it in the future (cf. Isaiah 54:10).
While Jeremiah 31:31 says that Yahweh would make a new covenant "with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah," that covenant is the one under which all the people of God have lived since Jesus ratified it ( 2 Corinthians 3:6; Hebrews 8:8-12). Its benefits are not all exclusively for Israel, though some of its benefits are exclusively for Israel and these benefits will only come into Israel"s possession in the Millennium. Jesus terminated the Mosaic Covenant ( Mark 7:19; Romans 10:4; Romans 14:14; Hebrews 8:6 to Hebrews 9:22; et al.) and ratified the New Covenant ( Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25) with His blood when He died on the Cross.
However, this could be a reference to the Davidic Covenant, which is also eternal (cf. 2 Samuel 7:16). [1] This new covenant would be in full harmony with God"s promises to David, in the Davidic Covenant, regarding David"s descendant who would rule over his house forever ( 2 Samuel 7:12-16; 1 Chronicles 17:23-26; Psalm 89:35-38; cf. Isaiah 9:6; Luke 1:32-33; Acts 13:34).

Context Summary

Isaiah 55:1-13 - The Free Offer Of Pardoning Grace
The Prince of Life, Isaiah 55:4, r.v. Four times in the New Testament this title is applied to our Lord, and always in connection with His Resurrection. See Acts 3:14-15; Acts 5:31; Hebrews 2:9-10; Hebrews 12:2, where the words prince, author, and captain, are various translations of the same Greek word. The meaning of the original word is file leader. He leads out of death into life; out of defeat into victory; out of suffering into perfection; out of the sorrow and pain of discipline into the triumph of the sons of light.
The everlasting covenant, Isaiah 55:3. David's sin could not cancel the sure mercies of God. See 2 Samuel 7:14-16 and 2 Samuel 23:5. God will never go back on that covenant which includes us! See Hebrews 8:1-13. God's mercies in Christ are sure. Listen! Come! Hear! We are not only forever safe, but we are provided against all want.
God's abundant provision is described under several terms: waters, wine, milk, wholesome and satisfying bread, the good, fatness, Isaiah 55:1-2. We are blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ, Ephesians 1:3. And because God's thoughts and ways are not as ours, the result is the transformation of thorns into firs and briars into myrtles. [source]

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 55

1  The prophet, with the promises of Christ, calls to faith
6  And to repentance
8  The happy success of those who believe

What do the individual words in Isaiah 55:3 mean?

Incline your ear and come to Me Hear and shall live your soul and I will make with you a covenant everlasting mercies of David the sure
הַטּ֤וּ אָזְנְכֶם֙ וּלְכ֣וּ אֵלַ֔י שִׁמְע֖וּ וּתְחִ֣י נַפְשְׁכֶ֑ם וְאֶכְרְתָ֤ה לָכֶם֙ בְּרִ֣ית עוֹלָ֔ם חַֽסְדֵ֥י דָוִ֖ד הַנֶּאֱמָנִֽים

הַטּ֤וּ  Incline 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: נָטָה 
Sense: to stretch out, extend, spread out, pitch, turn, pervert, incline, bend, bow.
אָזְנְכֶם֙  your  ear 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, second person masculine plural
Root: אֹזֶן  
Sense: ear, as part of the body.
וּלְכ֣וּ  and  come 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
אֵלַ֔י  to  Me 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
שִׁמְע֖וּ  Hear 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: שָׁמַע 
Sense: to hear, listen to, obey.
וּתְחִ֣י  and  shall  live 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect Jussive, third person feminine singular
Root: חָיָה  
Sense: to live, have life, remain alive, sustain life, live prosperously, live for ever, be quickened, be alive, be restored to life or health.
נַפְשְׁכֶ֑ם  your  soul 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, second person masculine plural
Root: נֶפֶשׁ  
Sense: soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion.
וְאֶכְרְתָ֤ה  and  I  will  make 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative, first person common singular
Root: כָּרַת  
Sense: to cut, cut off, cut down, cut off a body part, cut out, eliminate, kill, cut a covenant.
לָכֶם֙  with  you 
Parse: Preposition, second person masculine plural
בְּרִ֣ית  a  covenant 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: בְּרִית  
Sense: covenant, alliance, pledge.
עוֹלָ֔ם  everlasting 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֹולָם  
Sense: long duration, antiquity, futurity, for ever, ever, everlasting, evermore, perpetual, old, ancient, world.
חַֽסְדֵ֥י  mercies 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: חֶסֶד 
Sense: goodness, kindness, faithfulness.
דָוִ֖ד  of  David 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: דָּוִד  
Sense: youngest son of Jesse and second king of Israel.
הַנֶּאֱמָנִֽים  the  sure 
Parse: Article, Verb, Nifal, Participle, masculine plural
Root: אָמַן 
Sense: to support, confirm, be faithful.