Isaiah 48:22
in Isaiah 48“There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
There is no peace, saith Jehovah, to the wicked.
KJV
There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked.
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This verse in Isaiah 48
Commentary
10 notes on this verseAnd so, they say, it is not about Christ, but about Cyrus that it is prophesied: There is no peace for the wicked, says the Lord. And it is understood to mean that perfect happiness will not exist except under Christ, which is reserved for the last time. Moreover, those who interpret this more truly and rightly refer it to the coming of the Savior, of whom it is said: He has sent me to announce good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for prisoners.
This site's exposition
Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans
on Isaiah 48:20-22
Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth, turns the chapter from lament to a marching order, exile answered with an exodus of its own. The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob names the deliverance directly, and verse 21 recalls the wilderness provision, he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them, he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out, tying the new exodus to the first. The chapter's last line, there is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked, is the same sentence the book repeats word for word at 57:21, the seam the exposition marks rather than re-argues. Delitzsch and Barnes both note the sentence closes this section's comfort on a warning, redemption proclaimed to the redeemed and peace withheld from the wicked in the same breath.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
No one found that this happened when they came out of Babylon and went into Judah. For this is said with reference to the economy of salvation so as to show that God, who was formerly able and is still now able, being of undiminished power, to perform similar miracles with great strength, now, as if calling out, proclaims a universal law, that "there is no peace for the wicked."
(Verse 20, 21, 22.) Go out of Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans; proclaim it with a shout of joy, make it heard, proclaim it to the ends of the earth, and say: The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob. They did not thirst when he led them through the desert; he made water flow for them from the rock; he split the rock and water gushed out. There is no peace for the wicked, says the Lord. Those above in that place, where it is written: I have spoken and called it; I have brought him and his way is straight; they understand it concerning Cyrus and Darius; even this refers to those times when the people went out of Babylon and fled from the Chaldeans, and they were redeemed by their Lord God. This also, which is said: They did not thirst in the desert when he led them out, he brought water from the rock for them; and he split the rock, and water flowed. Although they cannot teach that it was fulfilled according to history; for they did not come through the desert under Zerubbabel and Ezra, and the split rock provided them water, as is narrated to have happened to those coming out of Egypt: however, they testify hyperbolically that it was fulfilled in likeness to the previous happiness, when they came through the desert of nations into Judaea, and were liberated from captivity. And so, they say, it is not about Christ, but about Cyrus that it is prophesied: There is no peace for the wicked, says the Lord. And it is understood to mean that perfect happiness will not exist except under Christ, which is reserved for the last time. Moreover, those who interpret this more truly and rightly refer it to the coming of the Savior, of whom it is said: He has sent me to announce good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for prisoners. […]
The Medieval Church1 voice
Third, he removes the comfort of peace from the wicked: there is no peace, below (Isa 57:21); what have you to do with peace? (2 Kgs 9:18).
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
No peace - God having foretold that peace which he would give to his servant Jacob, adds an explication; and declares, that wicked men should not enjoy the benefit of this mercy.
), though God's thoughts concerning the body of that people were thoughts of peace, yet to those among them that were wicked and hated to be reformed there is no peace, no peace with God or their own consciences, no real good, whatever is pretended to. What have those to do with peace who are enemies to God?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked - See below, note on Isa 57:21 (note). As the destruction of Babylon was determined, God commands his people to hasten out of it; for, saith the Lord, there is no peace (prosperity) to the wicked; ουκ εστι χαιρειν τοις ασεβεσιν, λεγει Κυριος. - Sept. “There is no rejoicing or prosperity to the wicked saith the Lord.” Their is not pese to unrytous men seith the Lord. - Old MS. Bible.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked - This verse contains a sentiment whose truth no one can doubt. To the transgressor of the laws of God there can be no permanent peace, enjoyment, or prosperity. The word peace is used in the Scriptures in all these senses (see the note at Isa 48:18). There may be the appearance of joy, and there may be temporary prosperity. But there is no abiding, substantial, permanent happiness, such as is enjoyed by those who fear and love God. This sentiment occurs not unfrequently in Isaiah. It is repeated in Isa 57:21; and in Isa 57:20, he says that ‘the wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.’ Of the truth of the declaration here there can be no doubt; but it is not perfectly apparent why it is introduced here. It is probably a part of the song with which they would celebrate their return; and it may have been used for one of the following reasons: 1. As a general maxim, expressed in view of the joy which they had in their return to their own land. They had elevated peace and triumph and joy. This was produced by the fact that they had evidence that they were the objects of the divine favor and protection. How natural was it in view of these blessings to say, that the wicked had no such comfort, and in general, that there was no peace to them of any kind, or from any quarter. Or, 2. It may have been uttered in view of the fact that many of their countrymen may have chosen to remain in Babylon when they returned to their own land. They probably formed connections there, amassed wealth, and refused to attend those who returned to Judea to rebuild the temple. […]
The words behind it
5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֵ֣ין | ʾein | not | H369 → | 789 times |
| שָׁל֔וֹם | shalom | peace | H7965 → | 236 times |
| אָמַ֥ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לָרְשָׁעִֽים׃ ס | lareshaim | [belongs] to <the> wicked [people] | H7563 → | 263 times |
אֵ֣יןnot
ʾeinH369 →789 times
שָׁל֔וֹםpeace
shalomH7965 →236 times
אָמַ֥רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
לָרְשָׁעִֽים׃ ס[belongs] to <the> wicked [people]
lareshaimH7563 →263 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
Romans 3:17and the way of peace they have not known.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 59:8
The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their tracks. They have turned them into crooked paths; no one who treads on them will know peace.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Romans 5:1
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
- Isaiah 59:8
Through
Luke 19:42and said, “If only you had known on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:29
If only they were wise, they would understand it; they would comprehend their fate.
- Luke 1:77–79
to give to His people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins,
- Isaiah 48:18
If only you had paid attention to My commandments, your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like waves of the sea.
- Hebrews 10:26–29
If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains,
- 2 Corinthians 6:1–2
As God’s fellow workers, then, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.
- Deuteronomy 32:29
Through
Isaiah 57:21“There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 3:11
Woe to the wicked; disaster is upon them! For they will be repaid with what their hands have done.
- Isaiah 3:11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 4:3.48:20-22; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.