Isaiah 2:11
in Isaiah 2The proud look of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The lofty looks of man shall be brought low, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day.
KJV
The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.
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This verse in Isaiah 2
Commentary
10 notes on this verse(Verse 11) The lofty eyes of man will be humbled, and the pride of men will be brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. When the enemies come and the Babylonian or Roman sword devastates every province, and the armies of warriors surround Jerusalem, then neither wealth, nor noble birth, nor the power of dignitaries will be able to defend anyone; but there will be one captivity for all, and only God will be exalted, and no one will be able to escape his wrath.
This site's exposition
Go into the rocks and hide
on Isaiah 2:10-11
Verse 10 opens a refrain the chapter repeats at verses 19 and 21. Verse 11 supplies the other half of the refrain, repeated at verse 17 and framing the list as one argument stated twice. "The proud look of man" brought low states what verses 12 to 16 spell out.
This site's exposition
the LORD alone will be exalted in that day
The proud look is literally eyes of pride, the phrase of Psalm 18:27. Verse 17 repeats the line as a refrain. In that day names the Day of the LORD announced in verse 12, when every human height falls and only the LORD stands high.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Here he takes away from them confidence in their own power, and concerning this, he does two things: first, he excludes the power of resistance; second, he rejects the precaution of hiding, where it says, "and they shall go into the holes of rocks" (Isa …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The lofty looks of man shall be humbled,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The lofty looks - Hebrew ‘The eyes of pride,’ that is, the proud eyes or looks. Pride commonly evinces itself in a lofty carriage and supercilious aspect; Psa 18:27. Shall be humbled - By the calamities that shall sweep over the land. This does not mean that he shall be brought “to be” humble, or to have a humble heart, but that that on which he so much prided himself would be taken away.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
lofty looks--literally, "eyes of pride" (Ps 18:27). humbled--by calamities. God will so vindicate His honor "in that day" of judgments, that none else "shall be exalted" (Zec 14:9).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2922: “An Infallible Sign Of Revival” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
IN the eternal past the Lord alone was exalted. When He dwelt alone before the earth was and when He commenced the mighty works of His Creation—and the universe sprang into being at the fiat of His unhindered will—He alone was exalted. He made multitudes of creatures. Perhaps we have no idea how many of them there were and in what varied forms intelligent beings were created, but the Lord alone was exalted. Every angel adored Him—every creature knew its Lord. It was an ill day when there broke out a rival spirit and when evil began to set up its throne in opposition to the God of Good. The leader of the angels—the light bearer—sought to erect a rival throne. "How are you fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning." Then, by and by, in process of time, upon this world God's Glory was dimmed. Here, too, another spoke and was believed and God was doubted. Another claimed man's love and gained it and God was disobeyed. No longer on earth was the Lord alone exalted as He had been in the quiet glades of Eden when our first parents worshipped none but God and counted it the very cream and flower of their being that they might serve the Most High who had made them what they were. Now look where we may, in this poor, fallen world, the Lord alone is not exalted. There are many lords and gods— spiritual wickedness and principalities of evil—which set themselves up in opposition to the great King of kings and Lord of lords. Yet as surely as Jehovah lives, He will win the victory in this conflict! Ere the drama of the world's history shall come to a close, it shall be known throughout the entire universe that the Lord, He is God—and the Lord alone shall be exalted. It is a part of the work of Grace—no, it is the main objective of the work of Grace, and it is an objective, also, of the work of Providence to promote this great end—that the Lord alone shall be exalted.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2922: “An Infallible Sign Of Revival” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
IN the eternal past the Lord alone was exalted. When He dwelt alone before the earth was and when He commenced the mighty works of His Creation—and the universe sprang into being at the fiat of His unhindered will—He alone was exalted. He made multitudes of creatures. Perhaps we have no idea how many of them there were and in what varied forms intelligent beings were created, but the Lord alone was exalted. Every angel adored Him—every creature knew its Lord.
Be humbled - “שפל ושח shaphel veshach, read שפלו שח shaphelu shach.” - Dr. Durell. Which rectifies the grammatical construction. No MS. or version confirms this reading.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
The haughty eyes of man [This means] the haughty spirit, and so every expression of haughty eyes in the Scriptures, as it is said: “Whoever is haughty of eye, lustful in heart..” (Ps.:5).
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Come into the rock To come into the rock to escape in the cracks of the rocks.
They shall enter into the rock in order to flee with a flight, and to be hidden in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the brightness of His glory.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עֵינֵ֞י | ʾeinei | eyes of | H5869 → | 887 times |
| גַּבְה֤וּת | gavhut | haughtiness of | H1365 → | |
| אָדָם֙ | ʾadam | a person | H120 → | 551 times |
| שָׁפֵ֔ל | shafel | it will become low | H8213 → | 31 times |
| וְשַׁ֖ח | veshach | and it will be humbled | H7817 → | 21 times |
| ר֣וּם | rum | [the] pride of | H7312 → | 6 times |
| אֲנָשִׁ֑ים | ʾanashim | people | H582 → | 566 times |
| וְנִשְׂגַּ֧ב | venisgav | and he will be exalted | H7682 → | 20 times |
| יְהוָ֛ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לְבַדּ֖וֹ | levado | to only him | H905 → | 200 times |
| בַּיּ֥וֹם | baiyom | in the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַהֽוּא׃ ס | hahu' | <the> that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
עֵינֵ֞יeyes of
ʾeineiH5869 →887 times
גַּבְה֤וּתhaughtiness of
gavhutH1365 →
אָדָם֙a person
ʾadamH120 →551 times
שָׁפֵ֔לit will become low
shafelH8213 →31 times
וְשַׁ֖חand it will be humbled
veshachH7817 →21 times
ר֣וּם[the] pride of
rumH7312 →6 times
אֲנָשִׁ֑יםpeople
ʾanashimH582 →566 times
וְנִשְׂגַּ֧בand he will be exalted
venisgavH7682 →20 times
יְהוָ֛הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
לְבַדּ֖וֹto only him
levadoH905 →200 times
בַּיּ֥וֹםin the day
baiyomH3117 →2304 times
הַהֽוּא׃ ס<the> that
hahu'H1931 →1879 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 12:4and on that day you will say: “Give praise to the LORD; proclaim His name! Make His works known among the peoples; declare that His name is exalted.
it leads to
- Psalms 105:1
Give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name; make known His deeds among the nations.
- Psalms 145:4–6
One generation will commend Your works to the next, and will proclaim Your mighty acts—
- 1 Chronicles 29:11
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in heaven and on earth belongs to You. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom,…
- Psalms 105:1
Through
Psalms 18:27For You save an afflicted people, but You humble those with haughty eyes.
it leads to
- Isaiah 66:2
Has not My hand made all these things? And so they came into being,” declares the LORD. “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles…
- Isaiah 57:15
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit,…
- James 2:5
Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?
- 2 Samuel 22:28
You save an afflicted people, but Your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down.
- Psalms 101:5
Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, I will put to silence; the one with haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not endure.
- Isaiah 66:2
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2922: “An Infallible Sign Of Revival” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.