I was reading through this passage in Isaiah 56:
4 For thus saith the LORD concerning the eunuchs that keep My sabbaths, and choose the things that please Me, and hold fast by My covenant. 5 Even unto them will I give in My house and within My walls a monument and a memorial better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting memorial, that shall not be cut off. 6 Also the aliens, that join themselves to the LORD, to minister unto Him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, and holdeth fast by My covenant.
My question is, are these aliens those who converted to Judaism or are these just the people who worked for the Jewish people in Judah at the time? My understanding is that the Gentiles are not supposed to keep the Sabbath, so this must be one or the other.
What does the Rabbinic teaching on this say about who these aliens are?
Answer
The general consensus among the commentators is that these "aliens" are converts to Judaism. (The phrase actually comes already in verse 3, right before where you began your quotation.)
The confusion may be arising from Mechon-Mamre's translation that you are using. The words in Hebrew it is translating is "בני הנכר" (Or, in verse 3, the singular: "בן הנכר"), which translates more literally to "son(s) of the strange one". "Strange one", or "alien" as it is often translated, is a common reference to non-Jews. And here, the reference is to the children of the non-Jews who "join themselves to the LORD", which is understood to mean those who have converted to Judaism.
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