Meaning, commentary and cross references
Isaiah 55:6
“Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;”In other translations
KJV · King James Version
Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
NIV · New International Version
Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
WEB · World English Bible
Seek the LORD while he may be found. Call on him while he is near.
What does Isaiah 55:6 mean?
John Gill · Exposition of the Entire Bible, on Isaiah 55:6
Seek ye the Lord while he may be found,.... The Lord is to be sought unto at all times, whenever the people of God meet together, especially on sabbath days, and while the external ministry of the word lasts, and life itself; so the Targum, "seek the fear of the Lord, while ye are alive.'' Kimchi compares it with Ecclesiastes 9:10. The Jewish writers, as Aben Ezra and others, generally interpret it before the sealing of the decree, or before the decree is gone forth.
John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63). Public domain. Digital text: Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org).
John Calvin · Commentaries, on Isaiah 55:6
Seek ye Jehovah. After having spoken of the good success of the gospel among the Gentiles, who formerly were strangers to the kingdom of God, he urges the Jews to be ashamed of loitering while others run; for since they were the first who were called, it is shameful that they should be last. This exhortation, therefore, relates strictly to the Jews, to whom the example of the Gentiles is held out in order to excite their jealousy; in the same manner as the Lord hath foretold that "he would provoke the Jews to jealousy by a foolish nation." (Deuteronomy 32:21) While he is found.
John Calvin, Commentaries (Calvin Translation Society English text). Public domain. Digital text: Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org).
Context: Isaiah 55:3–9 (WEB)
3Turn your ear, and come to me. Hear, and your soul will live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. 4Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples. 5Behold, you shall call a nation that you don’t know; and a nation that didn’t know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he has glorified you.” 6Seek the LORD while he may be found. Call on him while he is near. 7Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, to our God, for he will freely pardon. 8“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways,” says the LORD. 9“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Cross references
- Jeremiah 29:12–14
You shall call on me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
- Psalms 145:18
- Isaiah 45:19
I have not spoken in secret, in a place of the land of darkness. I didn’t say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, the LORD, speak righteousness. I declare things that are right.
- Psalms 32:6
- Psalms 14:2
- Isaiah 65:24
It will happen that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
- Matthew 7:7–8
“Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you.
- 2 Corinthians 6:1–2
Working together, we entreat also that you do not receive the grace of God in vain.