Isaiah 65:19 · Bible study
Isaiah 65:19 Commentary: God Rejoices and Weeping Ends
Hebrew · 9 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Explore Isaiah 65:19: God’s promise to rejoice over His people and end all weeping.
Research Summary
- Meaning: God promises a new creation where He rejoices over His people and sorrowful sounds of weeping and distress are removed forever.
- Key words: gil (exult), sus (rejoice), bekhi (weeping), ze'aqah (cry of distress), lo’ 'od (no longer).
- Main debate: Whether the promise is fulfilled in the post-exilic restoration, the final new creation, or both typologically.
- Theological theme: The defeat of sorrow through divine joy; new creation as the ultimate context for peace.
- Best use: Comfort for those grieving and assurance of God’s personal delight in His people; hope for the end of all suffering.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
I will rejoice in Jerusalem and take delight in My people. The sounds of weeping and crying will no longer be heard in her.
WEB World English Bible 2000
I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; and the voice of weeping and the voice of crying will be heard in her no more.
KJV King James Version 1769
And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people; and there shall be heard in her no more the voice of weeping and the voice of crying.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
And I have rejoiced in Jerusalem, And have joyed in My people, And not heard in her any more Is the voice of weeping, and the voice of crying.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And I will rejoice over Jerusalem, and will joy in my people; and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people, and the voice of weeping shall no more be heard in her, nor the voice of crying.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Y alegraréme con Jerusalem, y gozaréme con mi pueblo; y nunca más se oirán en ella voz de lloro, ni voz de clamor.
E me alegrarei de Jerusalém, e estarei muito contente com meu povo; e nunca mais se ouvirá nela voz de choro, nem voz de clamor.
Je ferai de Jérusalem mon allégresse,
und ich will fröhlich sein über Jerusalem und mich freuen über mein Volk; und soll nicht mehr darin gehört werden die Stimme des Weinens noch die Stimme des Klagens.
En Ik zal Mij verheugen over Jeruzalem, en vrolijk zijn over Mijn volk; en in haar zal niet meer gehoord worden de stem der wening, noch de stem des geschreeuws.
Ed io festeggerò a motivo di Gerusalemme, e gioirò del mio popolo; quivi non si udran più voci di pianto né gridi d’angoscia;
I rozraduję się w Jeruzalemie, a weselić się będę w ludu moim; a nie będzie słychać w nim głosu płaczu i głosu narzekania.
И буду радоваться о Иерусалиме и веселиться о народе Моем; и не услышится в нем более голос плача и голос вопля.
我必因耶路撒冷 歡喜，因我的百姓 快樂；其中 必不 再 聽見 哭泣 的聲音 和哀號 的聲音。
And I will be glad over Jerusalem, and have joy in my people: and the voice of weeping will no longer be sounding in her, or the voice of grief.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Isaiah 65:19
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 that Isaiah 65:19 belongs to the prophet’s vision of a new heaven and a new earth. Matthew Henry sees fulfillment in the gospel church, first militant and finally triumphant. Gill’s Exposition applies it primarily to the Jewish conversion and the latter-day glory, with final perfection when God dwells with humanity. Keil & Delitzsch call this the promise’s “culminating point,” a new creation so glorious that former troubles are forgotten. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown notes the primary reference to Jerusalem and a secondary one to all the redeemed, supported by cross-references to Isaiah 25:8 and Revelation 21:4. The two Hebrew verbs for joy, gil (to exult) and sus (to rejoice) in v.18, converge here: God himself shares the delight. Weeping (bekhi) and crying (ze'aqah, a cry of distress) will be heard no more, not merely muffled but finally removed. The consensus holds that the promise is real and certain, though its full scope unfolds across restoration and consummation.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Post-exilic restoration only: Literal reading of Jerusalem's return from Babylon; weeping ended for that generation (Ezra 3:12-13 context).
- Final new creation only: The context of new heavens and earth (v.17) and New Testament citations (Rev 21:4) point to a consummation beyond history.
- Typological (both): The return from exile prefigures the final new creation; the promise unfolds in stages, from restoration to resurrection (Matthew Henry, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown).
What is clear: God promises a time of unbroken joy for His people, when the sounds of weeping and distress are gone, and God Himself rejoices over them.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Scope of fulfillment | God promises an end to weeping eventually. | Some, like Matthew Henry, see fulfillment in the gospel church age and fully in heaven. Others, like Gill, emphasize a future literal Jerusalem and the thousand-year reign. |
| Who are 'my people'? | Originally Israel, God’s covenant people. | Reformed traditions (e.g., Calvin, Matthew Henry) apply it to the church as spiritual Israel. Others maintain a distinct future for ethnic Israel. |
| Nature of joy | God himself rejoices over His people. | Joy is seen as a present experience of grace (Gill) or a future eschatological celebration (Keil & Delitzsch). Both acknowledge the deep personal involvement of God. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Isaiah 65 is the prophet’s closing vision of hope after chapters of judgment and consolation. The preceding verses (vv.15-16) contrast the fate of the rebellious with the blessing of God’s servants: former troubles are hidden from God’s eyes. Then v.17 announces a new creation, new heavens and a new earth, so transformative that the old order falls from memory.
Jerusalem, the city that had been destroyed by Babylon in 586 BC, becomes the focal point of this renewal. The post-exilic community returning from captivity knew the sounds of weeping all too well: the ruins, the loss of temple, the scattering of families. Yet here the prophet promises that God himself will “rejoice in Jerusalem” and “delight in” his people. The language echoes a bridegroom over his bride (Isaiah 62:5), a personal joy that reverses the grief of exile.
The two words for sorrow, bekhi (weeping) and ze'aqah (a cry of distress), appear together in other passages describing lament after disaster (e.g., Jeremiah 31:15, Rachel weeping for her children). By saying they “will be heard no more,” Isaiah assures that the anguish of exile and the deeper alienation from God are finished. This is not a mere silence but the stillness of a world at peace. The surrounding verses (vv.20-25) paint a picture of long life, secure labor, peace in creation, a comprehensive restoration. The prophet does not specify a timeline, allowing the promise to sustain generations who look for its fulfillment.
Textual Notes
The supplied sources note no significant textual variants for Isaiah 65:19. The Hebrew text is stable across manuscripts. The LXX renders the verse similarly, with no major differences affecting interpretation.
Reception History
Isaiah 65:19 has been treasured across Christian tradition as a promise of final rest. Early church writers like Irenaeus and Augustine saw it as a prophecy of the new creation inaugurated by Christ. Medieval hymns and liturgy often echoed the line “no more weeping” as a vision of heaven. During the Reformation, Martin Luther and John Calvin applied it to the reign of Christ in the church, while later figures like Matthew Henry and Charles Spurgeon used it to comfort the grieving. In modern times, the verse appears in funeral liturgies and songs of hope, pointing forward to the day when God dwells with His people and every tear is wiped away (Revelation 21:4).
Preaching This Verse
Three-Point Outline
- God’s Joy Over His People
Not only do we rejoice in God, here God rejoices in us. Gill notes this is the day of Israel’s espousals, when God manifests love and continues to delight in His own. The verb forms (Qal perfect with waw-consecutive) emphasize settled joy. - The Absence of Sorrow
The Hebrew negation lo’ 'od, “not any longer”, is absolute. Weeping (bekhi, mourning) and crying (ze'aqah, distress call) vanish. Barnes ties this to Isaiah 25:8, the swallowing of death. - The New Creation Context
The promise stands within the new heavens and new earth (v.17). Matthew Henry sees it fulfilled in the gospel church now and fully in the triumphant church. The old order of pain is replaced by God’s permanent joy.
Five-Point Outline
- The prophet’s vision of a new creation (v.17)
- Jerusalem remade as a delight and joy (v.18)
- God himself participates in the joy (v.19a)
The two verbs “rejoice” and “delight” (H1523/H7797) show divine pleasure. - The end of weeping and crying (v.19b)
The passive verb “will be heard” (yishama') underscores that God removes these sounds. - The expanded description of peace (vv.20-25)
Long life, secure work, harmony in creation, all marks of the restored order.
Illustration Hooks
- A parent sitting in a hospital room after a long vigil, the machines beeping, the tears quiet. Then, finally, the good news: the child will recover. The sounds of fear shift to relief. The promise says that one day, even the memory of such a room will fade.
- A refugee family standing on the shore of a new country. They left behind the sounds of war and weeping. In Isaiah 65, God promises a return home where no alarms sound, no one flees.
Questions Your Congregation Is Asking
- “Why does God allow so much suffering now if He promises joy later?”
- “Is this verse about heaven, or can we experience something of it now?”
- “What does it mean that God rejoices over us? How does that change how I see Him?”
Leading a Discussion
This verse offers a glimpse of God’s heart: He does not simply tolerate His people, He rejoices in them. And He promises an end to every sorrow. As you discuss, consider how the context of new creation shapes our hope today.
Discussion Questions
- Read Isaiah 65:17-19. What does it mean for God to “create new heavens and a new earth”? How does that set the stage for v.19?
- Look at the two words for crying in v.19: weeping (bekhi) and a cry of distress (ze'aqah). What kinds of sorrow do these words cover? Why name both?
- The verse says the sounds will not be heard “any more.” What does the phrase lo’ 'od imply about the permanence of this change?
- God says “I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people.” How does God’s joy over His people differ from our joy in God? (See also Zephaniah 3:17)
- Cross-reference with Revelation 21:3-4. How does the New Testament apply this promise? Is it for Israel only, or for all believers?
- How can we live in the tension between still experiencing weeping now and trusting that one day it will cease? What practical hope does this give you?
- In your own life, what “voice of crying” are you longing to hear silenced? Pray together for that day to come.
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)
| Song of Solomon 3:11 | Go out, you daughters of Zion, and see King Solomon, with the crown with which his mother has crowned him, in the day of his weddings, in the day of the gladness of his heart. |
| Isaiah 25:8 | He has swallowed up death forever! The Lord Yahweh will wipe away tears from off all faces. He will take the reproach of his people away from off all the earth, for Yahweh has spoken it. |
| Isaiah 35:10 | Then Yahweh’s ransomed ones will return, and come with singing to Zion; and everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.” |
| Isaiah 51:3 | For Yahweh has comforted Zion. He has comforted all her waste places, and has made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Yahweh. Joy and gladness will be found in them, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. |
| Isaiah 51:11 | Those ransomed by Yahweh will return, and come with singing to Zion. Everlasting joy shall be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy. Sorrow and sighing shall flee away. |
| Isaiah 60:20 | Your sun will not go down any more, nor will your moon withdraw itself; for Yahweh will be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning will end. |
| Isaiah 62:4 | You will not be called Forsaken any more, nor will your land be called Desolate any more; but you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for Yahweh delights in you, and your land will be married. |
| Isaiah 62:5 | For as a young man marries a virgin, so your sons will marry you. As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you. |
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
8 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke draws from the Jewish commentator Kimchi a specific millennial vision: in the Messiah's days, people will again live three to five hundred years. Death at one hundred would be considered an infant's death and would only happen because of sin. No untimely deaths will occur.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes connects this promise directly to earlier prophecies, showing it is the fulfillment of what Isaiah had already foretold. The rejoicing in Jerusalem and the silencing of weeping are not new ideas but the final realization of God's long‑standing pledge to remove sorrow and fill His people with joy.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The Cambridge Bible Schools commentary notes that the prophet’s most soaring vision arises from the promise that former troubles will be completely forgotten. In the new creation, everything exists to serve the well‑being of God’s restored people, a thought that inspires the highest flight of prophetic imagination.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
And I wil reioyce in Ierusalem, and ioye in my people, and the voyce of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voyce of crying.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill emphasises that God Himself actively rejoices in His people, viewing them as they are in Christ. This divine joy stretches from eternity past through their conversion and continues into the future New Jerusalem state, where all weeping will finally cease.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB sees
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch argues that the new heaven and new earth will be so overwhelmingly glorious that no one will even remember the old ones, let alone wish them back. They see this as the promise's highest point, where God turns Jerusalem into perpetual joy and shares in that joy Himself.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry sees these promises fulfilled in two stages: partially when the Jews returned from exile and were settled in peace, but fully in the gospel church, both militant on earth and ultimately triumphant in heaven. He directs believers to find this new creation in the graces and comforts they already have through Christ.