The Meaning of Isaiah 66:18 Explained

Isaiah 66:18

KJV: For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.

YLT: And I -- their works and their thoughts, I come to gather all the nations and tongues, And they have come and seen My honour.

Darby: And I, their works and their thoughts are before me. ... The time cometh for the gathering of all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.

ASV: For I know their works and their thoughts: the time cometh, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and shall see my glory.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For I [know] their works  and their thoughts:  it shall come,  that I will gather  all nations  and tongues;  and they shall come,  and see  my glory. 

What does Isaiah 66:18 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The Lord knows the works and thoughts of rebels against His will, and He will assemble them all to witness a display of His glory. At Babel, humankind assembled to display its own glory ( Genesis 11:1-9), but God will bring all the rebels together to witness His glory. The church"s preaching of the gospel is hardly the fulfillment in view. It is rather the return of Christ to the earth and the judgment of the nations then (cf. Matthew 25:32).
"Vv18-24have a close affinity with Zechariah 12-14 , so much so that one could consider the Zechariah passage to be an expansion on these verses in Isaiah." [1]
"In New Testament perspective, this final section [2] spans the first and second comings of the Lord Jesus Christ: his purpose for the world (18), his means of carrying it out (19-21), the sign set among the nations, the remnant sent to evangelize them (19) and the gathering of his people to "Jerusalem" (20) with Gentiles in full membership (21)." [3]

Context Summary

Isaiah 66:15-24 - All Flesh Shall Worship The Lord
The prophet makes it clear that, whatever blessings accrue in the golden future, they will be apportioned to those alone, who are the Israel of God, not merely by descent but in heart and life. They must be what the Apostle describes in Philippians 3:3. Those who were bent on practicing idolatrous rites, such as passing in procession, with priests as teachers, through gardens and groves devoted to impurity; or who, by partaking of the flesh of animals forbidden in the Levitical law, had become as Gentiles, must suffer with the heathen.
Isaiah 66:19 suggests that the restored Jewish remnant are to become the future missionaries of the world; and the book closes with a vision of the Holy City as the focus and center of the religious life of mankind. It is as though, like John, Isaiah beheld her descending from God out of heaven, with wide-open gates, through which the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor, Isaiah 66:20. The lot of all enemies of goodness is depicted in the everburning fires of Tophet-the rubbish heaps of which are significant of uselessness, Isaiah 66:24.
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Chapter Summary: Isaiah 66

1  The glorious God will be served in humble sincerity
5  He comforts the humble by showing the confusion of their enemies
7  With the marvelous growth
10  And the gracious benefits of the church
15  God's severe judgments against the wicked
18  The Gentiles shall have an holy church
24  And see the damnation of the wicked

What do the individual words in Isaiah 66:18 mean?

For I [know] their works and their thoughts it shall be that I will gather - all nations and tongues and they shall come and see My glory
וְאָנֹכִ֗י מַעֲשֵׂיהֶם֙ וּמַחְשְׁבֹ֣תֵיהֶ֔ם בָּאָ֕ה לְקַבֵּ֥ץ אֶת־ כָּל־ הַגּוֹיִ֖ם וְהַלְּשֹׁנ֑וֹת וּבָ֖אוּ וְרָא֥וּ כְּבוֹדִֽי

וְאָנֹכִ֗י  For  I  [know] 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Pronoun, first person common singular
Root: אָנׄכִי  
Sense: I (first pers.
מַעֲשֵׂיהֶם֙  their  works 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine plural
Root: מַעֲשֶׂה  
Sense: deed, work.
וּמַחְשְׁבֹ֣תֵיהֶ֔ם  and  their  thoughts 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine plural construct, third person masculine plural
Root: מַחֲשָׁבָה  
Sense: thought, device.
בָּאָ֕ה  it  shall  be 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, feminine singular
Root: בֹּוא 
Sense: to go in, enter, come, go, come in.
לְקַבֵּ֥ץ  that  I  will  gather 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Piel, Infinitive construct
Root: קָבַץ  
Sense: to gather, assemble.
אֶת־  - 
Parse: Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
הַגּוֹיִ֖ם  nations 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: גֹּוי 
Sense: nation, people.
וְהַלְּשֹׁנ֑וֹת  and  tongues 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Article, Noun, common plural
Root: לָשֹׁון  
Sense: tongue.
וּבָ֖אוּ  and  they  shall  come 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person common plural
Root: בֹּוא 
Sense: to go in, enter, come, go, come in.
וְרָא֥וּ  and  see 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person common plural
Root: רָאָה 
Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.
כְּבוֹדִֽי  My  glory 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: כָּבֹוד  
Sense: glory, honour, glorious, abundance.