Isaiah 8:21

Isaiah 8:21 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward.
• New International Version (NIV)Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God.
• English Standard Version (ESV)They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against their king and their God, and turn their faces upward.
• New King James Version (NKJV)They will pass through it hard-pressed and hungry; and it shall happen, when they are hungry, that they will be enraged and curse their king and their God, and look upward.

Context of Isaiah 8:21

19When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists who whisper and mutter, shouldn’t a people consult their God instead? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? 20To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn. They will roam the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged; and looking upward, they will curse their king and their God. 22Then they will look to the earth and see only distress and darkness and the gloom of anguish. And they will be driven into utter darkness.

Isaiah 8:21 word by word

וְעָ֥בַר בָּ֖הּ נִקְשֶׁ֣ה וְרָעֵ֑ב וְהָיָ֨ה כִֽי־יִרְעַ֜ב וְהִתְקַצַּ֗ף וְקִלֵּ֧ל בְּמַלְכּ֛וֹ וּבֵאלֹהָ֖יו וּפָנָ֥ה לְמָֽעְלָה׃Read the interlinear

• They will roam the landעָבַר‛âbar · to passH5674
• dejectedקָשָׁהqâshâh · to hardenH7185
• and hungryרָעֵבrâ‛êb · hungryH7457
• and hungryהָיָהhâyâh · to beH1961
• Whenכִּיkîy · forH3588
• they are famishedרָעֵבrâ‛êb · be hungryH7456
• they will become enragedקָצַףqâtsaph · be angryH7107
• and lookingפָּנָהpânâh · to turnH6437
• upwardמַ֫עַלma‛al · aboveH4605
• they will curseקָלַלqâlal · to lightenH7043
• their kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• and their Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430

Cross-references for Isaiah 8:21

• Isaiah 8:7the Lord will surely bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates— the king of Assyria and all his pomp. It will overflow its channels and overrun its banks.
• Isaiah 9:20They carve out what is on the right, but they are still hungry; they eat what is on the left, but they are still not satisfied. Each one devours the flesh of his own offspring.
• Deuteronomy 28:33A people you do not know will eat the produce of your land and of all your toil. All your days you will be oppressed and crushed.
• 2 Kings 25:3By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food.
• Jeremiah 14:18If I go out to the country, I see those slain by the sword; if I enter the city, I see those ravaged by famine! For both prophet and priest travel to a land they do not know.’”
• Jeremiah 52:6By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food.
• Lamentations 4:4The nursing infant’s tongue clings in thirst to the roof of his mouth. Little children beg for bread, but no one gives them any.
• Proverbs 19:3A man’s own folly subverts his way, yet his heart rages against the LORD.
• Exodus 22:28You must not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people.
• 2 Kings 6:33While Elisha was still speaking with them, the messenger came down to him. And the king said, “This calamity is from the LORD. Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?”
• Job 1:11But stretch out Your hand and strike all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”
• Job 2:5But stretch out Your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”
• Revelation 9:20Now the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the works of their hands. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk.
• Revelation 16:9And the people were scorched by intense heat, and they cursed the name of God, who had authority over these plagues. Yet they did not repent and give Him glory.

Commentaries on Isaiah 8:21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21Hardly bestead "Distressed" - Instead of נקשה niksheh, distressed, the Vulgate, Chaldee, and Symmachus manifestly read נכשל nichshal, stumbling, tottering through weakness, ready to fall; a sense which suits very well with the place. And look upward "And he shall cast his eyes upward" - The learned professor Michaelis, treating of this place (Not. in de Sacr. Poes. Hebr. Prael. ix.) refers to a passage in the Koran which is similar to it. As it is a very…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21And they shall pass - The people who have been consulting necromancers. This represents the condition of these who have sought for counsel and direction, and who have not found it. They shall be conscious of disappointment, and shall wander perplexed and alarmed through the land. Through it - Through the land. They shall wander in it from one place to another, seeking direction and relief. Hardly bestead - Oppressed, borne down, agitated. The meaning is…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-22Verses 17-22 The prophet foresaw that the Lord would hide his face; but he would look for his return in favour to them again. Though not miraculous signs, the children's names were memorials from God, suited to excite attention. The unbelieving Jews were prone to seek counsel in difficulties, from diviners of different descriptions, whose foolish and sinful ceremonies are alluded to. Would we know how we may seek to our God, and come to the knowledge of…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 19-22Isaiah contrasted his message with the advice of ungodly people around him. His message brought light and truth. The message of spiritists led to darkness and death. Mediums tried to discover the future through divination (seeking hidden knowledge through rituals). Some claimed to speak with the dead (see Isaiah 19:3). However, God had forbidden these practices because they were empty and harmful (Isaiah 47:9; Deuteronomy 18:9–11).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 21-2221-22. More detailed description of the despair, which they shall fall into, who sought necromancy instead of God; Is 8:20 implies that too late they shall see how much better it would have been for them to have sought "to the law," &c. (De 32:31). But now they are given over to despair. Therefore, while seeing the truth of God, they only "curse their King and God"; foreshadowing the future, like conduct of those belonging to the "kingdom of the beast,"…Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 8:21

• Afflictions and Adversities
• Blasphemy
• Israel, Prophecies Concerning
• King

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Ahaz
• Bestead
• Dread
• Light
• Sanctify
• Seal
• Ezekiel
• Fret, Fretting

Commentaries on Isaiah 8

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings