Isaiah 59:18 · Bible study
Isaiah 59:18 Commentary: Divine Recompense and the Islands
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Examine Isaiah 59:18: who are the adversaries? What is the significance of 'the islands'? Explore textual, historical, and interpretive debates.
Research Summary
- Meaning: God will repay every party, adversaries, enemies, distant nations, according to the exact measure of their deeds.
- Key words: גְּמֻלוֹת (gemulot, deeds/recompenses); חֵמָה (chemah, rage/fury); אִי (i, coastland/island).
- Main debate: Whether the adversaries are oppressive foreign nations or apostate Israelites, and whether “the islands” is original to the text.
- Theological theme: Divine retributive justice as the necessary prelude to redemption (v. 20).
- Best use: Expository preaching on God’s justice, paired with the grace that follows in verses 20, 21.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
So He will repay according to their deeds: fury to His enemies, retribution to His foes, and recompense to the islands.
WEB World English Bible 2000
According to their deeds, he will repay as appropriate: wrath to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies. He will repay the islands their due.
KJV King James Version 1769
According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, wrath to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompense.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
According to deeds--so He repayeth. Fury to His adversaries, their deed to His enemies, To the isles their deed He repayeth.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
According to deeds, so will he repay: fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
As unto revenge, as it were to repay wrath to his adversaries, and a reward to his enemies: he will repay the like to the islands.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Como para retribuir, como para retornar ira á sus enemigos, y dar el pago á sus adversarios: el pago dará á las islas.
Ele lhes retribuirá conforme suas obras: furor a seus adversários, pagamento a seus inimigos; às terras litorâneas ele pagará de volta.
Il rendra à chacun selon ses œuvres,
als der seinen Widersachern vergelten und seinen Feinden mit Grimm bezahlen will; ja, den Inseln will er bezahlen,
Even naar de werken, even daarnaar zal Hij vergelden, grimmigheid aan Zijn wederpartijders, vergelding aan Zijn vijanden; den eilanden zal Hij het loon vergelden.
Egli renderà a ciascuno secondo le sue opere: il furore ai suoi avversari, il contraccambio ai suoi nemici; alle isole darà la lor retribuzione.
Aby według uczynków, aby według nich odpłacił popędliwością przeciwnikom swoim, aby nagrodę nieprzyjaciołom swoim, a wyspom zapłatę oddał.
По мере возмездия, по этой мере Он воздаст противникам Своим - яростью, врагам Своим - местью, островам воздаст должное.
他必按 人的行為 施報，惱怒 他的敵人，報復 他的仇敵，向眾海島 施行 報應。
He will give them the right reward of their doings, wrath to his attackers, punishment to his haters, and even on the sea-lands he will send punishment.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Isaiah 59:18
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree on the core principle: God will repay every party according to its deeds. Barnes calls this a “general sentiment … that God would inflict just punishment on his enemies.” The Hebrew root גְּמוּל (gemul) carries the sense of both deed and its deserved return, as seen in Job 34:11 and Psalm 62:12. Beyond that agreement, the identity of the recipients divides interpreters. Barnes identifies the adversaries as the oppressive foreign nations (especially Babylon). The Cambridge Bible argues from context that those adversaries are the apostate Jews within Israel, the ones whose sins have blocked salvation. Gill applies the verse to the antichristian powers of Rome, reading “the islands” as distant parts of that jurisdiction. What unites these readings is the conviction that God’s justice is sure, that no opponent of his purposes escapes his notice. The verse stands as the first explicit announcement of judgment in a chapter that began with sin and ends with a Redeemer coming to Zion.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Foreign-nations view: Barnes, Wesley, and Jamieson-Fausset-Brown point to Babylon and other oppressors, reading “the islands” as distant foreign powers, supported by cross-references like Isaiah 41:1.
- Apostate-Israel view: The Cambridge Bible and Keil-Delitzsch argue from the immediate context (vv. 14–15) that the sin catalogued belongs to Israel, so the adversaries must be unfaithful Israelites.
What is clear: The verse leaves no doubt that God will repay every party according to its deeds; the recipients are real opposition to his purposes, whether inside or outside the covenant community.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Principle of repayment | All traditions hold that God repays each party according to its deeds, a principle consistent with Psalm 62:12 and Job 34:11. | Some see this as temporal judgment in history (Babylon’s fall), others as eschatological judgment at Christ’s second coming (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown). |
| Identity of the adversaries | The adversaries are those who oppose God and his people. There is no disagreement that God will act against such opposition. | Barnes and Wesley identify them as oppressive foreign nations (Babylon). The Cambridge Bible and Keil-Delitzsch argue from context that the primary referent is apostate Jews within Israel. |
| Meaning of “the islands” | The term (אִי, i) refers to distant coastlands or islands, often used in Isaiah for remote nations. | Barnes sees them as foreign nations that oppressed Israel. Gill applies them to distant parts of the antichristian realm. The Cambridge Bible suggests the clause may be a later insertion (absent from the LXX). |
| Textual integrity of the verse | The general sense is plain, as Barnes states, despite some grammatical irregularity in the Hebrew. | Clarke and Lowth proposed emending the text (reading בעל ba‘al for כעל ke‘al). Others, like Barnes, defend the received text as intelligible without emendation. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Isaiah 59 sits within the final section of the book (chapters 56, 66), a collection that addresses the community after the exile. The preceding verses paint a grim picture: justice is forced back, righteousness stands far off, truth has fallen in the street (vv. 14, 15). God sees that there is no intercessor, so his own arm brings salvation (v. 16). He arms himself with righteousness, salvation, vengeance, and zeal (v. 17). Against this backdrop, verse 18 is the first statement of how God will act. The adversaries are those who have opposed his purposes. The immediate historical context points to the Babylonian empire that had oppressed Judah. Barnes notes that “in order to effect the deliverance of his people it was necessary to take vengeance on those who had oppressed and enslaved them.” At the same time, the sins catalogued earlier belong to Israel itself, violence, deceit, injustice (vv. 3, 8). The Cambridge Bible therefore sees the adversaries as the unfaithful within Israel. The term “islands” (אִי, i) appears frequently in Isaiah to refer to distant coastal nations, particularly the Mediterranean coastlands (cf. 41:1, 42:4). Wesley interprets them as “those remoter nations under the king of Babylon, that thought themselves secure.” The mention of islands extends the scope of judgment beyond the immediate Near East to the ends of the known world.
Textual Notes
The Hebrew text of verse 18 presents grammatical difficulty. The phrase כְּ/עַל … כְּ/עַל (ke‘al … ke‘al) mixes preposition and adverb in a way that feels awkward. Lowth proposed reading בַּעַל (ba‘al, lord) in place of כְּ/עַל, yielding “the Lord of retribution shall requite.” The Chaldee paraphrase supports a similar reading. Barnes, however, argues the existing text is intelligible and does not require emendation. More significantly, the clause “to the islands he will repay recompence” is absent from the Septuagint. The Cambridge Bible suggests it may have been inserted through a misunderstanding of verse 19. No known Hebrew manuscript omits the clause, so most modern translations retain it. The verse is uniformly preserved in the Masoretic tradition.
Reception History
Early Christian interpreters read this verse as the promise of judgment on the enemies of the church, often linking it with the “arm of the Lord” in verse 16 and the Redeemer in verse 20. In the Reformation period, Matthew Henry treated it as part of the “evangelical promises” that follow judgment, while Gill applied it to the downfall of the antichristian system at the end of the age. Jewish exegesis, represented by the Targum (Chaldee paraphrase), understood the Lord of retribution acting against the nations that oppressed Israel. In modern scholarship, the debate over the identity of the adversaries reflects a broader tension in prophetic interpretation: does judgment fall primarily on foreign powers or on the covenant community itself? The verse continues to be used in hymns and liturgies that emphasize God’s justice as the context for his mercy.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- God sees every deed. The verse opens with “according to their deeds,” grounded in the Hebrew גְּמֻלוֹת (gemulot). Nothing escapes his notice, not the oppression of nations, not the rebellion within his people.
- God repays with exact justice. The pairing of “fury to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies” shows that the punishment fits the offence. This is not arbitrary anger; it is measured, deserved response.
- No one is beyond his reach. “The islands” represent the farthest places. No distant power, no hidden enemy, can evade the arm of the Lord.
Five-point outline
- Background: a world without justice (Isaiah 59:14, 15)
- God’s response: he arms himself for action (vv. 16, 17)
- The announcement: repayment according to deeds (v. 18a)
- The recipients: adversaries, enemies, and the islands (v. 18b)
- The outcome: fear of the Lord from west to east (v. 19)
Illustration hooks
- A courtroom where the judge has seen every piece of evidence and delivers a verdict that perfectly matches the crime. No plea bargaining, no loopholes.
- A child who expects punishment for breaking a window, but instead receives forgiveness, the verse reminds us that God’s grace is not the same as his justice.
- A debt finally called in after years of ignoring it. The verse assures that God’s timing does not mean forgetfulness.
Questions your congregation is asking
- If God repays according to deeds, how can there be forgiveness?
- Why does it seem that evil nations prosper while God’s people suffer?
- Who are the “islands” today, enemies far away from the church who seem beyond God’s concern?
Leading a Discussion
This verse stands at a turning point in Isaiah 59. The first half of the chapter catalogues Israel’s sins. Then God acts. The repayment he announces is both a warning and a promise. As you discuss, consider who you think the adversaries are and why it matters.
Discussion questions
- What does “according to their deeds” mean in the context of a covenant people who have broken the covenant?
- Look at verses 14, 15. What kind of society does Isaiah describe? How does that set up the need for God’s intervention?
- Who do you think are the “adversaries” and “enemies” here, foreign nations, unfaithful Israelites, or both? What clues in the text support your view?
- The word “islands” appears elsewhere in Isaiah (e.g., 41:1, 42:4). What does it suggest about the scope of God’s justice?
- How does verse 18 connect to the promise of a Redeemer in verse 20? Is the judgment the end of the story, or is there hope beyond it?
- If God repays according to deeds, what hope is there for anyone? How does the larger biblical story answer that question?
- In what situations today would you want God to repay enemies according to their deeds? How does that desire sit alongside Jesus’ teaching to love enemies?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Job 34:11 | For the work of a man he will give to him, and cause every man to find according to his ways. |
| Psalms 18:24 | Therefore Yahweh has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight. |
| Psalms 18:26 | With the pure, you will show yourself pure. With the crooked you will show yourself shrewd. |
| Psalms 21:8 | Your hand will find out all of your enemies. Your right hand will find out those who hate you. |
| Psalms 21:9 | You will make them as a fiery furnace in the time of your anger. Yahweh will swallow them up in his wrath. The fire shall devour them. |
| Psalms 62:12 | Also to you, Lord, belongs loving kindness, for you reward every man according to his work. |
| Isaiah 1:24 | Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, the Mighty One of Israel, says: “Ah, I will get relief from my adversaries, and avenge myself on my enemies. |
| Isaiah 49:25 | But Yahweh says, “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the plunder retrieved from the fierce, for I will contend with him who contends with you and I will save your children. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
9 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke argues that the existing Hebrew text of this verse is badly corrupted and nearly unintelligible. He points to the Chaldee paraphrase as a better guide, suggesting the original likely read “Lord of retribution” rather than the current difficult wording.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes acknowledges that the Hebrew text of this verse is unusually difficult, with one scholar calling it unintelligible. But he argues the basic sense is still clear: God will repay his enemies in exact proportion to what they have done. This just punishment is necessary for delivering his people and is directed against the foreign nations that oppressed them.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
This commentator argues that the adversaries God repays are not the heathen nations but apostate Jews whose sins delayed salvation. The clause about the islands likely originated from a misunderstanding of another verse and may not belong in the original text.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva Notes emphasize that God will repay the full fury of his adversaries and also restore what they have damaged. The distinctive point is the twofold divine action: punishing enemies with a just recompense while simultaneously and completely repairing the lands they ravaged.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill emphasizes that God repays his enemies exactly as they treated his people, applying the law of retribution. He connects this directly to the final judgment of Babylon, where God gives blood to drink to those who shed the blood of believers, and pours out his fury even on the most distant parts of antichristian rule.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB highlights that the Hebrew word behind "deeds" actually means "recompenses" — God responding to what people have done. They read this verse as describing the judgments that will occur at Christ's second coming, just before He finally redeems His people. The "islands" refer to distant Gentile nations.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch emphasise that the people's confession confesses their own moral depravity, not a failure of divine justice. God sees no human intercessor willing or able to help, so His own arm becomes His salvation. His righteous, zealous nature arms Him for judgment and deliverance without any external weapon.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange argues that the promise here has a double character, addressing the prophet personally and the whole spiritual Israel. This new covenant does not promise a physical posterity like Abraham's but spiritual descendants who will perpetually receive the Spirit and God's word
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley highlights that the Hebrew word for deeds actually means recompenses or deserts: God will repay his adversaries with the fury they have earned. He also notes that the islands point to remote nations under Babylon's king who thought themselves safe, yet still face divine judgment.