Isaiah 50:9
in Isaiah 50Surely the Lord GOD helps Me. Who is there to condemn Me? See, they will all wear out like a garment; the moths will devour them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Behold, the Lord Jehovah will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? behold, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.
KJV
Behold, the Lord God will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.
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This verse in Isaiah 50
Commentary
14 notes on this verseThere is a person who runs down birth, describing it as subject to decay and death, who forces things and suggests that the Savior was speaking about having children in saying that we should not store treasure on earth, where it grows rusty and moth-eaten. And [this person] is not ashamed to set alongside these the prophet's words: "You shall all grow old like clothes, and the moth will feed on you." We do not contradict Scripture. Our bodies are subject to decay and are naturally unstable. Perhaps he might be prophesying decay to his audience because they were sinners.
This site's exposition
The One who vindicates Me is near
on Isaiah 50:8-9
The servant speaks as a defendant sure of the verdict. Paul draws on this language at Romans 8:33, “Who will bring any charge against God’s elect”, though he does not formally cite the verse. The accusers wear out like a garment, for “the moths will devour them.”
This site's exposition
the moths will devour them
Gill hears the repeat of verse 7 as certainty, and reads condemn as proving guilty and passing sentence. Barnes notes that Lord GOD stands for Lord Jehovah in the Hebrew. The garment the moths devour is the case of every accuser.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
"Behold, you will all like a garment grow old, and something like a worm will devour you." The parable is accurate, for the worm that comes from the clothes destroys them, and sin, which is born from us, ruins those who allow it to grow.
Isaiah also gives the name "moth" to those who devour their conscience in their recklessness.… It might be said that the moths are their sins, which worm their way in among those they inhabit, like moths devouring clothing for food. An attitude that inclines toward …
(Verse 8, 9.) He is near who justifies me: who will contradict me? Let us stand together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord God is my helper: who is he that will condemn me? Behold, all of them shall wear out like a garment, the moth shall eat them up. LXX: He is near who justifies me: who is he that will judge me, stand up against me together? And who is he that will enter into judgment with me? Let him come near to me.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Who is he that shall condemn me, with false judgments: God is he that justifies: who is he that shall condemn? (Rom 8:33–34); again, he assigns the reason for this security from the weakness of those who attack him: lo, they shall all be destroyed …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Behold, the Lord God will help me,.... This is repeated from Isa 50:7; see Gill on Isa 50:7; to show the certainty of it, the strength of his faith in it, and to discourage his enemies: who is he that shall condemn me? make me out a wicked person (c), prove me guilty, and pass sentence upon me, when thus acquitted and justified by the Lord God?
6 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Those whom God employs he will assist, and will take care they want not any help that they or their work call for. God, having laid help upon his Son for us, gave help to him, and his hand was all along with the man of his right hand.
): Who is he that shall condemn me? The prophet perhaps was condemned to die; Christ we are sure was; and yet both could say, Who is he that shall condemn?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
The Redeemer is as famous for his boldness as for his humility and patience, and, though he yields, yet he is more than a conqueror. The dependence he has upon God. What was the prophet Isaiah's support was the support of Christ himself (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The message that is sent is life and death, good and evil, the blessing and the curse, comfort to desponding saints and terror to presuming sinners,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The Lord God will help me - (See Isa 50:7). In the Hebrew this is, ‘The Lord Jehovah,’ as it is in Isa 50:7 also, and these are among the places where our translators have improperly rendered the word יהוה yehovâh (Jehovah) by the word ‘God.’ Who is he that shall condemn me? - If Yahweh is my advocate and friend, my cause must be right.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
(Compare "deal," or "proper," Isa 52:13, Margin; Jer 23:5). as a garment-- (Isa 51:6, 8; A leading constituent of wealth in the East is change of raiment, which is always liable to the inroads of the moth; hence the frequency of the image in Scripture.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
The prophet said: The Holy One, blessed be He, shall say to all the nations: Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of His servant the prophet, who keepeth the law, being in distress, as a man that walketh in darkness and has no light, he trusting in the name of the Lord, will stay upon the salvation of his God?
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
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֵ֣ן | hen | here! | H2005 → | 316 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֤י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יְהוִה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3069 → | 306 times |
| יַֽעֲזָר־ | yaazor- | he helps | H5826 → | 81 times |
| לִ֔י | li | <to> me | ||
| מִי־ | mi- | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| ה֖וּא | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| יַרְשִׁיעֵ֑נִי | yarshieni | will he condemn as guilty me | H7561 → | |
| הֵ֤ן | hen | there! | H2005 → | 316 times |
| כֻּלָּם֙ | kulam | all of them | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| כַּבֶּ֣גֶד | kabeged | like <the> garment | H899 → | 217 times |
| יִבְל֔וּ | yivlu | they will wear out | H1086 → | 15 times |
| עָ֖שׁ | ʾash | moth | H6211 → | |
| יֹאכְלֵֽם׃ | yokhelem | it will eat them | H398 → | 810 times |
הֵ֣ןhere!
henH2005 →316 times
אֲדֹנָ֤י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יְהוִה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3069 →306 times
יַֽעֲזָר־he helps
yaazor-H5826 →81 times
לִ֔י<to> me
li
מִי־who?
mi-H4310 →423 times
ה֖וּאhe
hu'H1931 →1879 times
יַרְשִׁיעֵ֑נִיwill he condemn as guilty me
yarshieniH7561 →
הֵ֤ןthere!
henH2005 →316 times
כֻּלָּם֙all of them
kulamH3605 →5413 times
כַּבֶּ֣גֶדlike <the> garment
kabegedH899 →217 times
יִבְל֔וּthey will wear out
yivluH1086 →15 times
עָ֖שׁmoth
ʾashH6211 →
יֹאכְלֵֽם׃it will eat them
yokhelemH398 →810 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 41:10Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My right hand…
it leads to
- Joshua 1:9
Have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
- Isaiah 43:1–2
Now this is what the LORD says— He who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your…
- Romans 8:31
What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
- Deuteronomy 31:6–8
Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or terrified of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”
- Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
- Joshua 1:9
Through
Psalms 102:26They will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing You will change them, and they will be passed on.
it leads to
- Isaiah 51:6
Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth below; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and its people will die like…
- Matthew 24:35
Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
- Luke 21:33
Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
- Isaiah 51:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Isaiah
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
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); Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata Book 3; 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Procopius of Gaza, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 50:1-11; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 16:50.7-9 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.