Isaiah Chapter 49 verse 16 Holy Bible

ASV Isaiah 49:16

Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.
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BBE Isaiah 49:16

See, your name is marked on my hands; your walls are ever before me.
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DARBY Isaiah 49:16

Lo, I have graven thee upon the palms of [my] hands; thy walls are continually before me.
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KJV Isaiah 49:16

Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.
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WBT Isaiah 49:16


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WEB Isaiah 49:16

Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.
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YLT Isaiah 49:16

Lo, on the palms of the hand I have graven thee, Thy walls `are' before Me continually.
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Isaiah 49 : 16 Bible Verse Songs

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 16. - Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands. The prophet has passed here from the living Zion, Isabel, to their material home, Jerusalem. The metaphor which he uses is no doubt drawn from the practice, common both in ancient and in modern days, of burning or puncturing figures and other mementos upon the hand, the arm, or some other part of the body, and then rendering the figures indelible by rubbing in henna, indigo, gunpowder, or some other coloured substance. Pilgrims in the East have almost always such marks put upon them when they have accomplished their pilgrimage. English sailors are fond of them, and few are without some such mark on their breast or limbs. The meaning here is that God has the thought of Zion as constantly present with him as if her image were indelibly marked on the palms of his hands. (On the anthropomorphic representation of God as having "arms" and "hands," see the comment on Isaiah 40:10.) Thy walls. It is the city, Zion, the emblem of the people, that can alone be "graven" or "portrayed." This city has, of course, walls. God bears them in mind perpetually, since he is about to cause them to be built up (Nehemiah 3, 4.).

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(16) Behold, I have graven thee . . .--The words point to the almost universal practice of tattooing. A man thus "engraved" the name of his god, or the outlines of his home, or the face of her he loved, upon his hands or arms. So, by a boldly anthropomorphic figure, Jehovah had "graven" Jerusalem on His hands. He could not open them, i.e., could not act, without being reminded of her. The "walls" may be either those of the earthly city lying in ruins, or those of the heavenly Jerusalem.