Inscribed
“Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;” Isaiah 49:16
Inscribed – It was common practice in ancient cultures to engrave laws and decrees on tablets of stone or metal. In this way, the permanence of the law was insured. This word (haqaq) means to carve or engrave or portray. It is often associated with the idea of a statute or legal right. When it is used in connection with God, it describes His demands upon His people in the form of the covenant (the Law). In one derivative, it is used to describe a divine ordinance that is perpetually binding. Thus, the word is associated with the Passover, the Day of Atonement and the priesthood. In this verse from Isaiah, God says that He has made a permanent record of our names in a place where He is constantly reminded of each of us. The visual image is that He sees us as His own every moment.
Many of us carry pictures of our children or bracelets with their names engraved on them. We want to be reminded every day how precious and special these people are to us. Every time we look at that face or that name, love comes to mind. God also keeps a portrait of his children. He has his own name bracelet. But it is more than something he wears. It is a permanent record of who we are carved into his palms. Nothing will ever remove this reminder from him. He wants to remember constantly how much he loves us.
It is worth noting that God’s son also had each of us inscribed on the palms of his hands when he allowed himself to be crucified for our redemption. What an amazing truth it is for us as we face the trials of life to know that God cares so much about each individual one of us that He keeps us constantly before Him. Our names are engraved on his hands so that he will never forget us.
Topical Index: inscribed, haqaq, engrave, remember, Isaiah 49:16
I am concerned that so many writer and so many translations take Isaiah 49:16 as referring to God’s hands without realizing that it is an impossible interpretation. John 4:24 tells us that God is a spirit. How then can He possibly have anything engraved, or as one writer puts it ‘tattooed’ on his hands? The Hebrew text does not say ‘the palms of my hands.’ What it does say is kappayim which means ‘two palms’ so what does ‘two palms’ mean? I have carefully checked my Hebrew lexicon and the best explanation I can find is that kappayim is here being used as the equivalent of yadayim which often means .two hands. but not always. In Isaiah 56:5 we find the Hebrew phrase yad vashem which the NIV translates as ‘a memorial and a name’ and which has become the name of the Jerusalem memorial to holocaust victims. Significantly, this phrase is a mere seven chapters away from the problematic one. Thus, if the Hebrew word yad can mean ‘a memorial’ then surely, in a context involving engraving, the Hebrew word kappayim (= yadayim) should mean two memorials? Such a translation would not only make sense but also give complete consistency to what the Bible says.
It should be clear that Hebrew uses many anatomical idioms to speak about God. No one expects you to take it literally. My friend, Bob Gorelik, has an excellent series on Hebrew idioms. Maybe you should look into it (www.eshavbooks.org)
I am interested in what the second part of this verse means, as well. Is it talking about the actual walls of the city, the walls of our hearts, or the walls of our circumstances?
The context is to Zion, Jerusalem. It’s application might be personal, but the verse is really about God not forgetting His corporate body of people.