Isaiah Chapter 56 verse 3 Holy Bible
Neither let the foreigner, that hath joined himself to Jehovah, speak, saying, Jehovah will surely separate me from his people; neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.
read chapter 56 in ASV
And let not the man from a strange country, who has been joined to the Lord, say, The Lord will certainly put a division between me and his people: and let not the unsexed man say, See, I am a dry tree.
read chapter 56 in BBE
And let not the son of the alien, that hath joined himself to Jehovah, speak saying, Jehovah hath entirely separated me from his people; neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree;
read chapter 56 in DARBY
Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.
read chapter 56 in KJV
read chapter 56 in WBT
Neither let the foreigner, who has joined himself to Yahweh, speak, saying, Yahweh will surely separate me from his people; neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.
read chapter 56 in WEB
Nor speak let a son of the stranger, Who is joined unto Jehovah, saying: `Jehovah doth certainly separate me from His people.' Nor say let the eunuch, `Lo, I am a tree dried up,'
read chapter 56 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 3. - The son of the stranger; i.e. the foreigner, who has become a proselyte. During the depression of the Captivity these are not likely to have been many. Still, there were doubtless some; and these, who had embraced Judaism under such unfavourable circumstances, were entitled to special consideration. As Messianic hopes prevailed, and the time of restoration to Palestine drew near (ver. 1), they might naturally be afraid that they would not be looked upon as equals by the native Israelites, but would be made into a lower grade, if not even excluded. The Lord hath utterly separated me; rather, the Lord will utterly separate me. They do not suppose it done, but think it will be done. The eunuch. Isaiah had prophesied to Hezekiah that a certain number of his seed should serve as eunuchs in the royal palace of the King of Babylon (2 Kings 20:18). Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were such persons (Daniel 1:3-6), and there may have been others. By the letter of the Law (Deuteronomy 23:1), they were cut off from the congregation, but practically it would seem that during the Captivity they were on a par with other Israelites. These persons feared, with more reason than the foreign proselytes, that, on the return of Israel to their own land, a stricter practice would be established than had prevailed during the Captivity, and the letter of the Law would be enforced against them. I am a dry tree. Therefore useless, and entitled to no consideration at all.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(3) Neither let the son of the stranger . . .--Two classes of persons were likely to suffer specially from Manasseh's policy--(1) the heathen proselytes, who, as in Psalms 87, had been admitted as citizens of Zion under Hezekiah's special protection; and (2) in the highest degree, those of that body who had been taken, as Ebed-Melech afterwards was (Jeremiah 38:7), into the king's household as eunuchs. The courtiers of Manasseh would taunt them as aliens, and in the second case would press the letter of Deuteronomy 23:2. The principle of Isaiah's teaching was, of course, applicable to the Israelites who, like Daniel and his friends, had been mutilated against their will by heathen conquerors (Daniel 1:3), and most commentators refer the words to such cases. It is scarcely probable, however, that the household of Hezekiah would have been supplied with home-born eunuchs, and, on the hypothesis which I have adopted, I find in the eunuchs a sub-section of the proselytes. The words put into the mouths of the complainers are the natural utterances of men treated as they had been.
