New King James Version
Isaiah 51:19
19These two things have come to you; Who will be sorry for you?— Desolation and destruction, famine and sword— By whom will I comfort you?
Isaiah 51:19 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee?
- New International Version (NIV)These double calamities have come upon you— who can comfort you?— ruin and destruction, famine and sword— who can console you?
- English Standard Version (ESV)These two things have happened to you— who will console you?— devastation and destruction, famine and sword; who will comfort you?
- New Living Translation (NLT)These two calamities have fallen on you: desolation and destruction, famine and war. And who is left to sympathize with you? Who is left to comfort you?
Context of Isaiah 51:19
17Awake, awake! Stand up, O Jerusalem, You who have drunk at the hand of the Lord The cup of His fury; You have drunk the dregs of the cup of trembling, And drained it out. 18There is no one to guide her Among all the sons she has brought forth; Nor is there any who takes her by the hand Among all the sons she has brought up. These two things have come to you; Who will be sorry for you?— Desolation and destruction, famine and sword— By whom will I comfort you? 20Your sons have fainted, They lie at the head of all the streets, Like an antelope in a net; They are full of the fury of the Lord, The rebuke of your God. 21Therefore please hear this, you afflicted, And drunk but not with wine.
Read all of Isaiah 51Isaiah 51:19 word by word
שְׁתַּ֤יִם הֵ֙נָּה֙ קֹֽרְאֹתַ֔יִךְ מִ֖י יָנ֣וּד לָ֑ךְ הַשֹּׁ֧ד וְהַשֶּׁ֛בֶר וְהָרָעָ֥ב וְהַחֶ֖רֶב מִ֥י אֲנַחֲמֵֽךְ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- These twoשְׁנַ֫יִםshenayim shettayim · twoH8147
- are comeקָרָאqârâ' · to encounter: chancedH7122
- unto thee; who shall be sorryנוּדnûd · to wanderH5110
- for thee? desolationשֹׁדshôd shôd · violenceH7701
- and destructionשֶׁ֫בֶרsheber shêber · breakingH7667
- and the famineרָעָבrâ‛âb · famineH7458
- and the swordחֶ֫רֶבchereb · swordH2719
- by whom shall I comfortנָחַםnâcham · to be sorry: comfortH5162
Cross-references for Isaiah 51:19
- Isaiah 47:9But these two things shall come to you In a moment, in one day: The loss of children, and widowhood. They shall come upon you in their fullness Because of the multitude of your sorceries, For the great abundance of your enchantments.
- Ezekiel 14:21For thus says the Lord God: “How much more it shall be when I send My four severe judgments on Jerusalem—the sword and famine and wild beasts and pestilence—to cut off man and beast from it?
- Job 2:11Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. For they had made an appointment together to come and mourn with him, and to comfort him.
- Psalms 69:20Reproach has broken my heart, And I am full of heaviness; I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none; And for comforters, but I found none.
- Jeremiah 9:17Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider and call for the mourning women, That they may come; And send for skillful wailing women, That they may come.
- Lamentations 1:9Her uncleanness is in her skirts; She did not consider her destiny; Therefore her collapse was awesome; She had no comforter. “O Lord, behold my affliction, For the enemy is exalted!”
- Amos 7:2And so it was, when they had finished eating the grass of the land, that I said: “O Lord God, forgive, I pray! Oh, that Jacob may stand, For he is small!”
- Isaiah 22:4Therefore I said, “Look away from me, I will weep bitterly; Do not labor to comfort me Because of the plundering of the daughter of my people.”
- Isaiah 61:2To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn,
- Job 42:11Then all his brothers, all his sisters, and all those who had been his acquaintances before, came to him and ate food with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversity that the Lord had brought upon him. Each one gave him a piece of silver and each a ring of gold.
- Ecclesiastes 4:1Then I returned and considered all the oppression that is done under the sun: And look! The tears of the oppressed, But they have no comforter— On the side of their oppressors there is power, But they have no comforter.
- Lamentations 1:16“For these things I weep; My eye, my eye overflows with water; Because the comforter, who should restore my life, Is far from me. My children are desolate Because the enemy prevailed.”
- 2 Corinthians 7:6Nevertheless God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus,
- 2 Thessalonians 2:16Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace,
Commentaries on Isaiah 51:19
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 19These two things - desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword - That is, desolation by famine, and destruction by the sword, taking the terms alternately: of which form of construction see other examples. De S. Poesi, Hebrews Prael. xix., and Prelim. Dissert. p. 30. The Chaldee paraphrast, not rightly understanding this, has had recourse to the following expedient: "Two afflictions are come upon thee, and when four shall come upon thee…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 19These two things are come unto thee - Margin, Happened.‘ That is, two sources of calamity have come upon thee; to wit, famine and the sword, producing desolation and destruction; or desolation by famine, and destruction by the sword (see Lowth on Hebrew Poetry, Lect. xix.) The idea here is, that far-spread destruction had occurred, caused by the two things, famine and the sword. Who shall be sorry for thee? - That is, who shall be able so to pity thee as…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-23Verses 17-23 God calls upon his people to mind the things that belong to their everlasting peace. Jerusalem had provoked God, and was made to taste the bitter fruits. Those who should have been her comforters, were their own tormentors. They have no patience by which to keep possesion of their own souls, nor any confidence in God's promise, by which to keep possession of its comfort. Thou art drunken, not as formerly, with the intoxicating cup of…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17-23The prophet called the people of Israel to be done with their past and to anticipate God’s future for them.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1919. two--classes of evils, for he enumerates four, namely, desolation and destruction to the land and state; famine and the sword to the people. who shall be sorry for thee--so as to give thee effectual relief: as the parallel clause, "By whom shall I comfort thee?" shows (La 2:11-13).Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 51:19
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 51
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- 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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries