Revised Literal Translation
Isaiah 29:4
4And 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.1
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
2Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel. 3And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee. 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. 5Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly. 6Thou shalt be visited of Yhwh of Armies with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.
Read all of Isaiah 29Isaiah 29:4 word by word
וְשָׁפַלְתְּ֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ תְּדַבֵּ֔רִי וּמֵֽעָפָ֖ר תִּשַּׁ֣ח אִמְרָתֵ֑ךְ וְֽ֠הָיָה כְּא֤וֹב מֵאֶ֙רֶץ֙ קוֹלֵ֔ךְ וּמֵעָפָ֖ר אִמְרָתֵ֥ךְ תְּצַפְצֵֽף׃Read the interlinear
- And thou shalt be brought downשָׁפֵלshâphêl · to abaseH8213
- shalt speakדָבַרdâbar · to speak: speakH1696
- out of the groundאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- and thy speechאִמְרָה'imrâh 'emrâh · wordH565
- shall be lowשָׁחַחshâchach · to bowH7817
- out of the dustעָפָר‛âphâr · dustH6083
- and thy voiceקוֹלqôl qôl · voiceH6963
- shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spiritאוֹב'ôb · mediumH178
- out of the groundאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: soilH776
- shall whisperצָפַףtsâphaph · to whisperH6850
Cross-references for Isaiah 29:4
- Isaiah 2:11The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, And Yhwh alone shall be exalted in that day.
- Isaiah 3:8For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against Yhwh, to provoke the eyes of his glory.
- Isaiah 51:23But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over.
- Psalms 44:25For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth.
- Lamentations 1:9Her filthiness is in her skirts; she remembereth not her last end; therefore she came down wonderfully: she had no comforter. O Yhwh, behold my affliction: for the enemy hath magnified himself.
- Isaiah 8:19And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?
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
In the dictionaries
Notes
- 1. Isaiah 29:4 whisper: Heb. peep, or, chirp. ↩
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
Revised Literal Translation — © 2018 Michael W. Jones, Sr. — GPL
Commentaries