Isaiah 56:9

Isaiah 56:9 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest.
• New International Version (NIV)Come, all you beasts of the field, come and devour, all you beasts of the forest!
• English Standard Version (ESV)All you beasts of the field, come to devour— all you beasts in the forest.
• New King James Version (NKJV)All you beasts of the field, come to devour, All you beasts in the forest.

Context of Isaiah 56:9

7I will bring them to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and will fill them with joy in my house of prayer. I will accept their burnt offerings and sacrifices, because my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations. 8For the Sovereign Lord, who brings back the outcasts of Israel, says: I will bring others, too, besides my people Israel.” Come, wild animals of the field! Come, wild animals of the forest! Come and devour my people! 10For the leaders of my people— the Lord’s watchmen, his shepherds— are blind and ignorant. They are like silent watchdogs that give no warning when danger comes. They love to lie around, sleeping and dreaming. 11Like greedy dogs, they are never satisfied. They are ignorant shepherds, all following their own path and intent on personal gain.

Isaiah 56:9 word by word

כֹּ֖ל חַיְת֣וֹ שָׂדָ֑י אֵתָ֕יוּ לֶאֱכֹ֥ל כָּל־חַיְת֖וֹ בַּיָּֽעַר׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• All ye beastsחַיָּהchay · living thingH2416
• of the fieldשָׂדַיώâdeh ώâday · fieldH7704
• comeאָתָה'âthâh 'âthâ' · to comeH857
• to devourאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
• in the forestיַ֫עַרya‛ar · woodH3293

Cross-references for Isaiah 56:9

• Deuteronomy 28:26Your corpses will be food for all the scavenging birds and wild animals, and no one will be there to chase them away.
• Jeremiah 12:9My chosen people act like speckled vultures, but they themselves are surrounded by vultures. Bring on the wild animals to pick their corpses clean!
• Ezekiel 29:5I will leave you and all your fish stranded in the wilderness to die. You will lie unburied on the open ground, for I have given you as food to the wild animals and birds.
• Ezekiel 39:17“And now, son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Call all the birds and wild animals. Say to them: Gather together for my great sacrificial feast. Come from far and near to the mountains of Israel, and there eat flesh and drink blood!
• Revelation 19:17Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, shouting to the vultures flying high in the sky: “Come! Gather together for the great banquet God has prepared.

Commentaries on Isaiah 56:9

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9All ye beasts of the field - Here manifestly begins a new section. The prophet in the foregoing chapters, having comforted the faithful Jews with many great promises of God's favor to be extended to them, in the restoration of their ruined state, and in the enlargement of his Church by the admission of the Gentiles; here on a sudden makes a transition to the more disagreeable part of the prospect, and to a sharp reproof of the wicked and unbelievers; and…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 9All ye beasts of the field - This evidently commences a new subject, and refers to some invasion of the land of Judea. In the previous chapter, the prophet had comforted the people by the assurance of the coming of the Messiah, and by the fact that they should be enlarged by the accession of the Gentiles. He proceeds here to a more disagreeable part of the subject. The design is, to reprove particularly the sins of the rulers of the people, and to assure…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 9-12Verses 9-12 Desolating judgments are called for; and this severe rebuke of the rulers and teachers of the Jewish church, is applicable to other ages and places. It is bad with a people when their shepherds slumber, and are eager after the world. Let us pray the Great Shepherd to send us pastors after his own heart, who will feed us with knowledge, that we may rejoice in his holy name, and that believers may be daily added to the church.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9Wild animals are here a metaphor for the hostile nations surrounding Judah.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 99. beasts--Gentile idolatrous nations hostile to the Jews, summoned by God to chastise them (Jr 12:7-9; 50:17; Eze 34:5): the Chaldeans and subsequently the Romans. The mention of the "outcasts of Israel" (Is 56:8) brings in view the outcasting, caused by the sins of their rulers (Is 56:10-12). to devour--namely, Israel.Read the comment

In the dictionaries

• Gather
• Isaiah
• Saviour
• Text of the Old Testament

Commentaries on Isaiah 56

• 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
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings