Isaiah 32:4
in Isaiah 32The mind of the rash will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will speak clearly and fluently.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the heart of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.
KJV
The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.
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This verse in Isaiah 32
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThe heart of fools, who formerly erred following idols; and the tongue of stammerers, the prophets, who formerly spoke obscurely and enigmatically: wisdom opened the mouth of the dumb, and made the tongues of infants eloquent (Wis 10:21).
This site's exposition
the eyes of them that see shall not be dim
on Isaiah 32:3-4
Under this reign the senses and speech of the people themselves are mended: eyes that see are no longer dim, ears that hear actually hearken, the heart of the rash comes to understand knowledge, and the stammering tongue learns to speak plainly. The older commentators read this both literally and figuratively, the reversal of the hardening commission given at Isaiah 6:9-10 now running backward as sight and hearing are restored under righteous rule. Barnes traces the same vocabulary forward into the later chapters of the book, where blindness and deafness are repeatedly undone as marks of the coming kingdom.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 32, Verses 1 onwards) Behold, the king shall reign with justice, and princes shall rule with judgment. And a man shall be like one who hides from the wind, and conceals himself from the storm: like streams of water in a dry place, and the shadow of a towering rock in a barren land. The eyes of those who see shall not be dim, and the ears of those who hear shall listen carefully. And the heart of fools shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of stammerers shall speak quickly and clearly.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The heart of those that were hasty and rash, and could not take time to digest and consider things, shall now be cured of their precipitation, and shall understand knowledge; for the Spirit of God will open their understanding. This blessed work Christ wrought in his disciples after his resurrection ( Luke xxiv.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge,....
A prophecy of the great disturbance that would be given to the kingdom in the middle of his reign by the Assyrian invasion,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The heart also of the rash - Margin, ‘Hasty.’ The Hebrew word denotes those who hasten; that is, those who are precipitate in forming a judgment, or deciding on a course of action. They do not take time to deliberate, and consequently they are led headlong into error, and into improper courses of life. Shall understand knowledge - They shall take time to deliberate; and they shall consequently form a more enlightened judgment.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּלְבַ֥ב | ulevav | and [the] heart of | H3824 → | 252 times |
| נִמְהָרִ֖ים | nimharim | hasty [people] | H4116 → | 68 times |
| יָבִ֣ין | yavin | it will understand | H995 → | 170 times |
| לָדָ֑עַת | ladaat | <to> knowledge | H1847 → | 92 times |
| וּלְשׁ֣וֹן | uleshon | and [the] tongue of | H3956 → | 117 times |
| עִלְּגִ֔ים | ʾilegim | stammerers | H5926 → | |
| תְּמַהֵ֖ר | temaher | it will hasten | H4116 → | 68 times |
| לְדַבֵּ֥ר | ledaber | to speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| צָחֽוֹת׃ | tzachot | clearly | H6703 → |
וּלְבַ֥בand [the] heart of
ulevavH3824 →252 times
נִמְהָרִ֖יםhasty [people]
nimharimH4116 →68 times
יָבִ֣יןit will understand
yavinH995 →170 times
לָדָ֑עַת<to> knowledge
ladaatH1847 →92 times
וּלְשׁ֣וֹןand [the] tongue of
uleshonH3956 →117 times
עִלְּגִ֔יםstammerers
ʾilegimH5926 →
תְּמַהֵ֖רit will hasten
temaherH4116 →68 times
לְדַבֵּ֥רto speak
ledaberH1696 →1141 times
צָחֽוֹת׃clearly
tzachotH6703 →
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
Exodus 4:11And the LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Or who makes the mute or the deaf, the sighted or the blind? Is it not I, the LORD?
it leads to
- Amos 3:6
If a ram’s horn sounds in a city, do the people not tremble? If calamity comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?
- Isaiah 6:7
And with it he touched my mouth and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for.”
- Psalms 94:9
He who affixed the ear, can He not hear? He who formed the eye, can He not see?
- Ezekiel 3:26–27
I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, and you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, though they are a rebellious house.
- Psalms 146:8
the LORD opens the eyes of the blind, the LORD lifts those who are weighed down, the LORD loves the righteous.
- Amos 3:6
Through
Galatians 1:23They only heard the account: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 15:8–10
And last of all He appeared to me also, as to one of untimely birth.
- 1 Timothy 1:13–16
I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent man; yet because I had acted in ignorance and unbelief, I was shown mercy.
- Acts 9:13
But Ananias answered, “Lord, many people have told me about this man and all the harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem.
- 1 Corinthians 15:8–10
About Isaiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.