The Meaning of Isaiah 61:8 Explained

Isaiah 61:8

KJV: For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

YLT: For I am Jehovah, loving judgment, Hating plunder for a burnt-offering, And I have given their wage in truth, And a covenant age-during I make for them.

Darby: For I, Jehovah, love judgment, I hate robbery with wrong; and I will give their recompence in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

ASV: For I, Jehovah, love justice, I hate robbery with iniquity; and I will give them their recompense in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For I the LORD  love  judgment,  I hate  robbery  for burnt offering;  and I will direct  their work  in truth,  and I will make  an everlasting  covenant  with them. 

What does Isaiah 61:8 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Israel could count on these promises because of who Yahweh is: a lover of justice (faithful to His promises to Israel) and a hater of iniquitous robbery (Israel"s enemies taking what did not belong to them). God would give Israel her inheritance and would make a new, everlasting covenant with her (cf. Isaiah 49:8; Isaiah 55:5; Jeremiah 31:31; Jeremiah 32:40; Ezekiel 16:60; Ezekiel 37:25-26; Malachi 3:1-2; Matthew 26:27-28; Hebrews 9:11-22; Hebrews 13:20).

Context Summary

Isaiah 61:1-11 - "the Acceptable Year Of The Lord"
Messiah's mission, Isaiah 61:1-3. At Nazareth our Lord applied these words to Himself. Let us care for the outcasts as He did; but to do so, we need to be anointed with the Holy Spirit, who rested so mightily on Him. The acceptable year is clearly that of Leviticus 25:8-13. Our Lord, when quoting this, stopped at the comma, Isaiah 61:2, because the day of vengeance is not yet. See Luke 4:19. Mark that it is only for a day! God not only delivers, but anoints and crowns.
Messiah's kingdom, Isaiah 61:4-9. In days yet future, the ruined cities of Palestine shall be restored. In a spiritual sense, we also may appropriate this promise. When we receive the Pentecostal gift, we also witness the restoration of the wastes, which our sins have caused in our own lives and in the lives of others. Let us clasp to our hearts Isaiah 61:7-9.
Messiah's joy, Isaiah 61:10-11. Jesus is the true bridegroom of the soul; and we may appropriate our side of these happy words. Note this combination of imputed and imparted righteousness. The one is put on as a garment, Isaiah 61:10; the other blossoms out from within, Isaiah 61:11. Oh, that from our lives God would cause righteousness and praise to spring forth! [source]

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 61

1  The office of Christ
4  The forwardness
7  And blessing of the faithful

What do the individual words in Isaiah 61:8 mean?

For I Yahweh love justice I hate robbery for burnt offering and I will direct their work in truth and covenant an everlasting will make with them
כִּ֣י אֲנִ֤י יְהוָה֙ אֹהֵ֣ב מִשְׁפָּ֔ט שֹׂנֵ֥א גָזֵ֖ל בְּעוֹלָ֑ה וְנָתַתִּ֤י פְעֻלָּתָם֙ בֶּאֱמֶ֔ת וּבְרִ֥ית עוֹלָ֖ם אֶכְר֥וֹת לָהֶֽם

יְהוָה֙  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
אֹהֵ֣ב  love 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: אָהַב  
Sense: to love.
מִשְׁפָּ֔ט  justice 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: מִשְׁפָּט  
Sense: judgment, justice, ordinance.
שֹׂנֵ֥א  I  hate 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: שָׂנֵא  
Sense: to hate, be hateful.
גָזֵ֖ל  robbery 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: גָּזֵל  
Sense: robbery, something plundered.
בְּעוֹלָ֑ה  for  burnt  offering 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, feminine singular
Root: עֹלָה  
Sense: whole burnt offering.
וְנָתַתִּ֤י  and  I  will  direct 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, first person common singular
Root: יָתַן 
Sense: to give, put, set.
פְעֻלָּתָם֙  their  work 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: פְּעֻלָּה  
Sense: work, recompense, reward.
בֶּאֱמֶ֔ת  in  truth 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֱמֶת  
Sense: firmness, faithfulness, truth.
וּבְרִ֥ית  and  covenant 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: בְּרִית  
Sense: covenant, alliance, pledge.
עוֹלָ֖ם  an  everlasting 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֹולָם  
Sense: long duration, antiquity, futurity, for ever, ever, everlasting, evermore, perpetual, old, ancient, world.
אֶכְר֥וֹת  will  make 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 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.
לָהֶֽם  with  them 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine plural