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Isaiah 5:15

in Isaiah 5

So mankind will be brought low, and each man humbled; the arrogant will lower their eyes.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the mean man is bowed down, and the great man is humbled, and the eyes of the lofty are humbled:

KJV

And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled:

This verse in Isaiah 5

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Isaiah · Written before 1274.

183. Second, as to the lowering of the captives: and man shall be brought down, being in captivity, as to the high ones, and man shall be humbled, as to the powerful, and the eyes of the lofty, as to the glorious ones: neither shall …

This site's exposition

So mankind will be brought low

on Isaiah 5:15-17

The leveling touches every rank, mankind brought low and the arrogant lowering their eyes, while "the LORD of Hosts will be exalted by His justice." Lambs grazing "in the ruins of the wealthy" picture the land gone back to pasture, the reverse of the tended vineyard that opened the chapter.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Isaiah · Written before 420.

(Verse 14, 15.) Therefore, hell enlarged its soul and opened its mouth without any limit, and its strong ones, and its people, and its high and glorious ones descended to it. And man will be humbled, and the man will be brought low, and the eyes of the proud will be cast down. Those who rose early to pursue wine, and remained in drunkenness until evening, and were occupied with pleasure and indulgence, did not want to consider the work of the Lord, nor did they contemplate the works of His hands.

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And the mean man shall be brought down,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

And the mean man ... the mighty man - The expressions here mean that “all” ranks would be subdued and punished; see the note at Isa 2:9. The eyes of the lofty ... - see Isa 2:11, note; Isa 2:17, note. Shall be exalted in judgment - In his justice; he shall so manifest his justice as to be exalted in the view of tbe people. Shall be sanctified - Shall be “regarded” as holy. He shall so manifest his righteousness in his dealings, that it shall be seen and felt that he is a holy God.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

Therefore, the nether-world has expanded Retribution corresponding to deed; they expanded themselves to swallow much food and drink, and they opened their mouth to swallow, so will the nether world expand itself to swallow.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Isaiah 5:14:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

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. 2 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

7 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיִּשַּׁ֥חand he has been humbled

    vaiyishachH7817 →21 times

  • אָדָ֖םeveryone

    ʾadamH120 →551 times

  • וַיִּשְׁפַּל־and he has become low

    vaiyishpal-H8213 →31 times

  • אִ֑ישׁeveryone

    ʾishH376 →1663 times

  • וְעֵינֵ֥יand [the] eyes of

    veeineiH5869 →887 times

  • גְבֹהִ֖יםproud [people]

    gevohimH1364 →41 times

  • תִּשְׁפַּֽלְנָה׃they will become low

    tishpalnahH8213 →31 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Daniel 4:37

    Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, for all His works are true and all His ways are just. And He is able to humble those who walk in…

    it leads to

    • James 4:6–7

      But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

    • Psalms 33:4–5

      For the word of the LORD is upright, and all His work is trustworthy.

    • 1 Peter 5:5–6

      Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

  • Through

    Psalms 62:9

    Lowborn men are but a vapor, the exalted but a lie. Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 39:5

      You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah

    • Isaiah 40:17

      All the nations are as nothing before Him; He regards them as nothingness and emptiness.

    • Isaiah 40:15

      Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered a speck of dust on the scales; He lifts up the islands like fine dust.

  • Through

    Isaiah 2:11

    The proud look of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 5:15–16

      So mankind will be brought low, and each man humbled; the arrogant will lower their eyes.

    • Psalms 18:27

      For You save an afflicted people, but You humble those with haughty eyes.

Where this verse is studied

About Isaiah

The Prophet Isaiah, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Prophet Isaiah, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

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); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.