Isaiah 51:18
in Isaiah 51Among all the sons she bore, there is no one to guide her; among all the sons she brought up, there is no one to take her hand.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand among all the sons that she hath brought up.
KJV
There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand of all the sons that she hath brought up.
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This verse in Isaiah 51
Commentary
7 notes on this verse937. Second, he excludes every human remedy, namely, of defense: there is none that can uphold her; of liberation: there is none that takes her.
This site's exposition
Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem
on Isaiah 51:17-20
The cry now wakes Jerusalem, “you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury”. Her sons “lie at the head of every street, like an antelope in a net”. The city lies spent, the low point before the reversal of verses 21 to 23.
This site's exposition
no one to take her hand
Barnes takes the picture from a drunken man who needs someone to steady and guide him. The cup of verse 17 has left Jerusalem staggering. Aquinas sees every human remedy shut off, both defense and rescue.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Vers. 17 seqq.) Lift up, lift up, arise, O Jerusalem, who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath: you have drunk to the dregs the cup of sleep, and have drained it to the bottom. There is no one to support her among all the sons she has borne, and there is no one to take her by the hand among all the sons she has brought up. There are two things that have befallen you; who will grieve over you? devastation and destruction, famine and sword: who will comfort you? Arise, arise, O Jerusalem, which have drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury. For thou hast drunken the cup of ruin and the dregs of the cup of fury: thou hast utterly drained it. And there is none to comfort thee among all the sons whom thou hast brought forth; neither is there any that taketh hold of thy hand, of all the sons that thou hast raised up. These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: who shall comfort thee? I often taught that Jerusalem and Zion are synonymous: of which Zion, which is interpreted as a watchtower, is called a fortress because it is located on a mountain: but the rest of the city, Jerusalem, which was previously called Jebus and Salem: which now the Prophet exhorts to rise, which previously fell into denial, saying in the Passion of the Lord: Crucify, crucify such [a man]: we have no king but Caesar (John 19:15): and let her repent, and feel the evils of captivity, why she offended her Creator. Doctors usually provide the most bitter antidote, which is named from its taste, to a nauseous stomach, so that it may expel harmful substances and be able to pass through the cooked and digested foods into the intestine, which the quantity of phlegm did not allow to be digested. […]
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Thus they complain, Ps. lxxiv. There is none to tell us how long. Now that which aggravated this disappointment was, (1.) That her trouble was very great, and yet there was none to pity or help her: These two things have come unto thee (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
There is none to guide her - The image here is taken from the condition of one who is under the influence of an intoxicating draught, and who needs some one to sustain and guide him. The idea is, than among all the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the time of the calamity, there was none who could restore to order the agitated and distracted affairs of the nation. All its wisdom was destroyed; its counsels perplexed; its power overcome. All the sons whom she hath brought forth - All the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֵין־ | ʾein- | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| מְנַהֵ֣ל | menahel | [is one who] leads | H5095 → | 10 times |
| לָ֔הּ | lah | <to> her | ||
| מִכָּל־ | mikol | of all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| בָּנִ֖ים | banim | [the] children | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יָלָ֑דָה | yaladah | [whom] she has borne | H3205 → | 496 times |
| וְאֵ֤ין | veein | and there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| מַחֲזִיק֙ | machazik | [is one who] takes hold | H2388 → | 291 times |
| בְּיָדָ֔הּ | beyadah | on hand her | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| מִכָּל־ | mikol | from all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| בָּנִ֖ים | banim | [the] children | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| גִּדֵּֽלָה׃ | gidelah | [whom] she has brought up | H1431 → | 117 times |
אֵין־there not
ʾein-H369 →789 times
מְנַהֵ֣ל[is one who] leads
menahelH5095 →10 times
לָ֔הּ<to> her
lah
מִכָּל־of all
mikolH3605 →5413 times
בָּנִ֖ים[the] children
banimH1121 →4930 times
יָלָ֑דָה[whom] she has borne
yaladahH3205 →496 times
וְאֵ֤יןand there not
veeinH369 →789 times
מַחֲזִיק֙[is one who] takes hold
machazikH2388 →291 times
בְּיָדָ֔הּon hand her
beyadahH3027 →1618 times
מִכָּל־from all
mikolH3605 →5413 times
בָּנִ֖ים[the] children
banimH1121 →4930 times
גִּדֵּֽלָה׃[whom] she has brought up
gidelahH1431 →117 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
Psalms 142:4Look to my right and see; no one attends to me. There is no refuge for me; no one cares for my soul.
it leads to
- Psalms 31:11
Among all my enemies I am a disgrace, and among my neighbors even more. I am dreaded by my friends— they flee when they see me on the street.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 30:17
But I will restore your health and heal your wounds, declares the LORD, because they call you an outcast, Zion, for whom no one cares.”
- Psalms 88:18
You have removed my beloved and my friend; darkness is my closest companion.
- Psalms 31:11
Through
Matthew 15:14Disregard them! They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
it leads to
- Luke 6:39
Jesus also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?
- Isaiah 56:10
Israel’s watchmen are blind, they are all oblivious; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they are dreamers lying around, loving to slumber.
- Luke 6:39
Through
Mark 8:23So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then He spit on the man’s eyes and placed His hands on him. “Can you see anything?” He…
it leads to
- Mark 7:33
So Jesus took him aside privately, away from the crowd, and put His fingers into the man’s ears. Then He spit and touched the man’s tongue.
- John 9:6–7
When Jesus had said this, He spit on the ground, made some mud, and applied it to the man’s eyes.
- Mark 7:33
Through
Psalms 88:18You have removed my beloved and my friend; darkness is my closest companion.
it leads to
- Psalms 88:8
You have removed my friends from me; You have made me repulsive to them; I am confined and cannot escape.
- Psalms 88:8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
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 (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.