Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.

ISAIAH 51:1KJV
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Isaiah 51:1 (KJV)

What does Isaiah 51:1 mean?

Isaiah 51:1 calls out to people who want to live rightly and are searching for God, telling them to remember where they came from—using the image of a rock they were cut from and a pit they were dug out of. The verse encourages these seekers to look back at their origins for perspective and hope.

Isaiah is speaking to Israelites who desire to follow what is right ("righteousness") and are actively seeking God. The "rock" and "pit" are poetic ways of reminding them of their roots, likely pointing to Abraham and Sarah as the beginnings of their nation. In the larger context, Isaiah is reassuring a discouraged people by urging them to recall how God started with just one couple and built a whole nation, suggesting that God can bring about new hope and restoration even from humble or difficult beginnings.

The Hebrew behind Isaiah 51:1

  • "Hearken" (שָׁמַע, shamaʿ) means to listen carefully or pay close attention, not just to hear but to take the message seriously. This word signals that what follows is important and meant for those who are truly attentive.
  • "Righteousness" (צֶדֶק, tsedeq) refers to living in a way that is just and right, according to God’s standards. The verse is directed specifically at people who care about living rightly, not just anyone.
  • "Rock" (צוּר, tsur) is often used in the Hebrew Bible as a symbol of strength, stability, or origin. Here, it points to the foundational beginnings of the people, likely Abraham, emphasizing that their identity and hope are rooted in God’s past actions.
  • "Hewn" (חָצַב, chatsav) means to be cut or carved out, highlighting the idea that the people were intentionally shaped and formed from something solid and enduring.

Why Isaiah 51:1 matters

  • Isaiah 51:1 clears up the idea that the people’s hope depends on their current strength or numbers; instead, it points them back to their humble beginnings and God’s faithfulness.
  • The verse emphasizes that seeking God and pursuing what is right involves remembering and learning from the past, not just focusing on present troubles.
  • This verse connects to the wider passage by setting up a message of comfort and encouragement: just as God worked through Abraham and Sarah, He can bring renewal and restoration to His people again.

Where else these words appear

“hole” Hebrew H4718 · used in 2 verses

  • Judges 4:21 Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.

“digged” Hebrew H5365 · used in 6 verses

  • Numbers 16:14 Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey, or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? we will not come up.
  • Judges 16:21 But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.
  • Job 30:17 My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest.

“hewn” Hebrew H2672 · used in 22 verses

  • Deuteronomy 6:11 And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;
  • 2 Chronicles 2:18 And he set threescore and ten thousand of them to be bearers of burdens, and fourscore thousand to be hewers in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred overseers to set the people a work.
  • Proverbs 9:1 Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars:

“pit” Hebrew H953 · used in 64 verses

  • Genesis 37:20 Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.
  • 1 Chronicles 11:18 And the three brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: but David would not drink of it, but poured it out to the LORD,
  • Jeremiah 37:16 When Jeremiah was entered into the dungeon, and into the cabins, and Jeremiah had remained there many days;