The Meaning of Isaiah 56:8 Explained

Isaiah 56:8

KJV: The Lord GOD which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.

YLT: An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, Who is gathering the outcasts of Israel: 'Again I gather to him -- to his gathered ones.'

Darby: The Lord Jehovah, who gathereth the outcasts of Israel, saith: Yet will I gather others to him, with those of his that are gathered.

ASV: The Lord Jehovah, who gathereth the outcasts of Israel, saith, Yet will I gather others to him, besides his own that are gathered.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

The Lord  GOD  which gathereth  the outcasts  of Israel  saith,  Yet will I gather  [others] to him, beside those that are gathered  unto him. 

What does Isaiah 56:8 Mean?

Verse Meaning

With an unusually strong declaration (cf. Isaiah 1:24), sovereign Yahweh affirmed that He would gather many other Gentiles to Himself along with the Israelites (cf. Isaiah 19:25; Isaiah 49:6-7; Isaiah 51:5; Isaiah 55:5; John 10:16). He would not save only Israelites, but Gentiles as well. The new Revelation , or mystery, concerning the relationship of Jews and Gentiles in the church ( Ephesians 2-3), was not that God would save Gentiles as well as Jews. It was that in the church He would deal with Jews and Gentiles on the same basis. Jews would have no advantage over Gentiles as they did previously. Now both types of people could come into relationship with God directly through faith in Christ. Formerly Gentiles came into relationship with God indirectly-through Israel-through faith in Yahweh. The Lord was not referring to the Babylonian exile or to geographical dispersal, but to those scattered from Himself.

Context Summary

Isaiah 56:1-12 - The Blessedness Of Sabbath-Keeping
The bright array of Messianic promises, which occupied the preceding chapters, is now followed by a portion of less interest, seeing that our attention is not now fastened on Christ, but on Israel. Birk calls this sermon "The Middle Ages of Delay," and says: "This new section of advice and warning belongs to this whole period from Isaiah to Christ. The like message applies now to the Church of Christ and its prospect of the Second Advent."
Special emphasis is laid on Sabbath-keeping because it was the special sign of God's connection with Israel. See Exodus 31:13-17; Ezekiel 20:12. It was also a type and pledge of the redemption rest, soon to be brought in and perfected by Christ's finished work, Hebrews 4:9-10.
What an ideal is presented here for character and conduct! To keep God's rest in our heart-the rest of faith; to cease from ourselves; to be joined to the Lord by one Spirit; to minister to Him; to love His name; to be His servants! What more could we imagine as characteristic of the Christian soul! Let us ask God to bring us to His "holy mountain" and to make us "joyful" in His "house of prayer." [source]

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 56

1  The prophet exhorts to sanctification
3  He promises it shall be general, without respect of persons
9  He protests against blind watchmen

What do the individual words in Isaiah 56:8 mean?

Says the Lord GOD who gathers the outcasts of Israel yet I will gather [Others] to him besides those who are gathered to him
נְאֻם֙ אֲדֹנָ֣י יְהוִ֔ה מְקַבֵּ֖ץ נִדְחֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל ע֛וֹד אֲקַבֵּ֥ץ עָלָ֖יו לְנִקְבָּצָֽיו

נְאֻם֙  Says 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: נְאֻם  
Sense: (Qal) utterance, declaration (of prophet).
אֲדֹנָ֣י  the  Lord 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֲדֹנָי  
Sense: my lord, lord.
יְהוִ֔ה  GOD 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: Jehovah—used primarily in the combination ‘Lord Jehovah’.
מְקַבֵּ֖ץ  who  gathers 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Participle, masculine singular
Root: קָבַץ  
Sense: to gather, assemble.
נִדְחֵ֣י  the  outcasts 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Participle, masculine plural construct
Root: דָּחָה 
Sense: to push, thrust, chase, overflow, totter, sore, drive away or out, be outcast, be cast down.
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל  of  Israel 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יִשְׂרָאֵל  
Sense: the second name for Jacob given to him by God after his wrestling with the angel at Peniel.
ע֛וֹד  yet 
Parse: Adverb
Root: עֹוד  
Sense: a going round, continuance adv.
אֲקַבֵּ֥ץ  I  will  gather  [Others] 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: קָבַץ  
Sense: to gather, assemble.
עָלָ֖יו  to  him 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
לְנִקְבָּצָֽיו  besides  those  who  are  gathered  to  him 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Nifal, Participle, masculine plural construct, third person masculine singular
Root: קָבַץ  
Sense: to gather, assemble.