Isaiah 29:4

Isaiah 29:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.
• New International Version (NIV)Brought low, you will speak from the ground; your speech will mumble out of the dust. Your voice will come ghostlike from the earth; out of the dust your speech will whisper.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And you will be brought low; from the earth you shall speak, and from the dust your speech will be bowed down; your voice shall come from the ground like the voice of a ghost, and from the dust your speech shall whisper.
• New King James Version (NKJV)You shall be brought down, You shall speak out of the ground; Your speech shall be low, out of the dust; Your voice shall be like a medium’s, out of the ground; And your speech shall whisper out of the dust.

Context of Isaiah 29:4

2I will bring distress to Ariel, And she will be a city of grieving and mourning; And she will be like an Ariel to me. 3I will camp against you encircling you, And I will set up siegeworks against you, And I will raise up battle towers against you. Then you will be brought low; From the earth you will speak, And from the dust where you are prostrate Your words will come. Your voice will also be like that of a spirit from the ground, And your speech will whisper from the dust. 5But the multitude of your enemies will become like fine dust, And the multitude of the ruthless ones like the chaff which blows away; And it will happen instantly, suddenly. 6From the Lord of armies you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.

Isaiah 29:4 word by word

וְשָׁפַלְתְּ֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ תְּדַבֵּ֔רִי וּמֵֽעָפָ֖ר תִּשַּׁ֣ח אִמְרָתֵ֑ךְ וְֽ֠הָיָה כְּא֤וֹב מֵאֶ֙רֶץ֙ קוֹלֵ֔ךְ וּמֵעָפָ֖ר אִמְרָתֵ֥ךְ תְּצַפְצֵֽף׃Read the interlinear

• be broughtשָׁפֵלshâphêl · to abaseH8213
• From the earthאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
• you will speakדָבַרdâbar · to speak: speakH1696
• And from the dustעָפָר‛âphâr · dustH6083
• you are prostrateשָׁחַחshâchach · to bowH7817
• Your wordsאִמְרָה'imrâh 'emrâh · wordH565
• Your voiceקוֹלqôl qôl · voiceH6963
• spiritאוֹב'ôb · mediumH178
• from the groundאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: soilH776
• will whisperצָפַףtsâphaph · to whisperH6850

Cross-references for Isaiah 29:4

• Isaiah 2:11The proud look of humanity will be brought low, And the arrogance of people will be humbled; And the Lord alone will be exalted on that day.
• Isaiah 3:8For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen, Because their speech and their actions are against the Lord, To rebel against His glorious presence.
• Isaiah 51:23I will put it into the hand of your tormentors, Who have said to you, ‘Lie down so that we may walk over you.’ You have also made your back like the ground, And like the street for those who walk over it.”
• Psalms 44:25For our souls have sunk down into the dust; Our bodies cling to the earth.
• Lamentations 1:9Her uncleanness was in her garment’s seams; She did not think of her future. So she has fallen in an astonishing way; She has no comforter. “See, Lord, my affliction, For the enemy has honored himself!”
• Isaiah 8:19When they say to you, “Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should a people not consult their God? Should they consult the dead in behalf of the living?

Commentaries on Isaiah 29:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4And thy speech shall be low out of the dust "And from out of the dust thou shalt utter a feeble speech" - That the souls of the dead uttered a feeble stridulous sound, very different from the natural human voice, was a popular notion among the heathens as well as among the Jews. This appears from several passages of their poets; Homer, Virgil, Horace. The pretenders to the art of necromancy, who were chiefly women, had an art of speaking with a feigned…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4And shalt speak out of the ground - (see the note at Isaiah 8:19). The sense here is, that Jerusalem, that had been accustomed to pride itself on its strength I would be greatly humbled and subdued. Its loud and lofty tone would be changed. It would use the suppressed language of fear and alarm as if it spoke from the dust, or in a shrill small voice, like the pretended conversers with the dead. And thy speech shall whisper out of the dust - Margin…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4God aimed to destroy the sinful pride of Jerusalem's people. Their voices would rise as if from the grave. Through the Assyrians, God would humble his people, but he would not abandon them.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. Jerusalem shall be as a captive, humbled to the dust. Her voice shall come from the earth as that of the spirit-charmers or necromancers (Is 8:19), faint and shrill, as the voice of the dead was supposed to be. Ventriloquism was doubtless the trick caused to make the voice appear to come from the earth (Is 19:3). An appropriate retribution that Jerusalem, which consulted necromancers, should be made like them!Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 29:4

• Isaiah
• Israel, Prophecies Concerning
• Necromancy
• Sorcery
• Ventriloquism

In the dictionaries

• Familiar spirit
• Close
• Mouth
• Raise
• Sennacherib
• Chirp
• Communion With Demons; Devils
• Decease, in the Old Testament and Apocyphra
• Familiar
• Isaiah

Commentaries on Isaiah 29

• 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