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 they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the spiritists who chirp and mutter,” shouldn’t a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? 20Go to God’s instruction and testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, there will be no dawn for them. They will wander through the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged, and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. 22They will look toward the earth and see only distress, darkness, and the gloom of affliction, and they will be driven into thick darkness.

Isaiah 8:21 word by word

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

Words taken from the KJV.

• And they shall passעָבַר‛âbar · to passH5674
• through it, hardly besteadקָשָׁהqâshâh · to hardenH7185
• and hungryרָעֵבrâ‛êb · hungryH7457
• and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungryרָעֵבrâ‛êb · be hungryH7456
• they shall fretקָצַףqâtsaph · be angryH7107
• themselves, and curseקָלַלqâlal · to lightenH7043
• their kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• and their Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• and lookפָּנָהpânâh · to turnH6437
• upwardמַ֫עַלma‛al · aboveH4605

Cross-references for Isaiah 8:21

• Isaiah 8:7the Lord will certainly bring against them the mighty rushing water of the Euphrates River — the king of Assyria and all his glory. It will overflow its channels and spill over all its banks.
• Isaiah 9:20They carve meat on the right, but they are still hungry; they have eaten on the left, but they are still not satisfied. Each one eats the flesh of his arm.
• Deuteronomy 28:33A people you don’t know will eat your land’s produce and everything you have labored for. You will only be oppressed and crushed continually.
• 2 Kings 25:3By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that the common people had no food.
• Jeremiah 14:18If I go out to the field, look — those slain by the sword! If I enter the city, look — those ill from 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 was so severe in the city that the common people had no food.
• Lamentations 4:4The nursing baby’s tongue clings to the roof of his mouth from thirst. Infants beg for food, but no one gives them any.
• Proverbs 19:3A person’s own foolishness leads him astray, yet his heart rages against the Lord.
• Exodus 22:28“You must not blaspheme God or curse a leader among your people.
• 2 Kings 6:33While Elisha was still speaking with them, the messenger came down to him. Then he said, “This disaster is from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”
• Job 1:11But stretch out your hand and strike everything he owns, 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 9:20The rest of the people, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands to stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see, hear, or walk.
• Revelation 16:9and people were scorched by the intense heat. So they blasphemed the name of God, who has the power over these plagues, and 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