Later text
Isaiah 61:5BSB
Strangers will stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners will be your plowmen and vinedressers.
Intertextuality Pair
Isaiah 61:5 → Exodus 19:6
Allusion
Earlier text
Exodus 19:6BSB
And unto Me you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words that you are to speak to the Israelites."
Significance
Exodus 19:6 promises Israel will be "a kingdom of priests (מַמְלֶכֶת כֹּהֲנִים, mamlekhet kohanim) and a holy nation." Isaiah 61:6 fulfills and expands this: "you will be called the priests of the LORD (כֹּהֲנֵי יְהוָה, kohanei YHWH); they will speak of you as ministers of our God." Isaiah adds a striking social reversal: while Israel serves as priests, "Strangers will stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners will be your plowmen and vinedressers" (61:5). The Sinai promise of corporate priesthood, originally conditional ("if you will indeed obey My voice"), becomes in Isaiah an accomplished reality for the restored community. The nations' role as agricultural laborers frees Israel entirely for priestly service.
- Found via
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
- Reference Type
- Allusion
- Connection Method(s)
- Longitudinal Theme