Isaiah 6:11
in Isaiah 6Then I asked: “How long, O Lord?” And He replied: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left unoccupied and the land is desolate and ravaged,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until cities be waste without inhabitant, and houses without man, and the land become utterly waste,
KJV
Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,
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This verse in Isaiah 6
Commentary
10 notes on this verse(Verse 11-13.) And I said, how long, Lord? And he answered, until the cities are desolate and without inhabitant, and the houses are without people, and the land is left empty. And the Lord will remove men far away, and what was abandoned in the midst of the land will be multiplied. And even in it there will be a tenth, and it will be turned again to destruction, like a terebinth tree, and like an oak tree that sheds its leaves, the holy seed will be the stump that remains in it.
This site's exposition
How long, O Lord?
on Isaiah 6:11-12
Isaiah asks how long the hardening will last. Verse 12 carries the ruin into exile, language that reaches past the near Assyrian crisis to the Babylonian captivity a century off. The answer gives no date, only a condition, the land emptied and its people driven away.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
See here that the rest of the earth is desolate, and those who remain on the earth alone are said to multiply. These must be the disciples of the Savior, going forth from the Hebrews to all people. Like a seed left behind they have brought forth much fruit, which are the churches of the Gentiles in every dwelling place. In addition, when he says that only those who remain from the falling away of the Jews will multiply, he also says that the Jews themselves are desolate. For he says of them, "Their land shall be left desolate." And this was said to them before by the same prophet, saying, "Your land is completely desolate, your cities burned with fire, before you strangers will devour your country."When was this fulfilled other than in the time of our Savior? Before they dared to do evil things to him, their land was not desolate, their cities not burned with fire, and strangers did not devour their country. Our Savior and Lord predicted what was to happen to them through that prophetic announcement, saying, "Your house is left to you desolate." It was not long from the prediction of that moment that the Romans laid siege to them and brought them to desolation. The prophetic word gives the reason for the desolation by showing the cause of their fall, making the understanding of it clear. When they heard our Savior teaching among them but would not listen with the ear of the mind and did not understand who he was, seeing him with their eyes and not with the eyes of their spirit, "they hardened their heart, closed the eyes of their mind, and made their ears heavy." As the prophecy says, their cities would become desolate such that no one would live in them because of this. In addition, their land would become desolate, and only a few would remain, being kept like fruitful seed who would proceed to all people and multiply on the earth.
The Medieval Church1 voice
229. And I said. Here the length of the sentence is set out. And first, the question of the prophet is set out: how long will they be blinded? How long shall the vision . . . be trodden under foot? (Dan 8:13); second, the …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Lord - An abrupt speech, arising from the prophet's great passion and astonishment: how long shall this dreadful judgment last? Until - Until this land be totally destroyed, first by the Babylonians, and afterward by the Romans.
Then said I, Lord, how long?....
What will be in the end hereof?" In answer to this he is told that it should issue in the final destruction of the Jewish church and nation. "When the word of God, especially the word of the gospel, had been thus abused by them, they shall be unchurched, and consequently undone.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
How long - The prophet did not dare to pray that this effect should not follow. He asked merely therefore “how long” this state of things must continue; how long this message was to be delivered, and how long it should be attended with these painful effects. Until the cities ... - They will remain perverse and obstinate until the land is completely destroyed by divine judgments. Still the truth is to be proclaimed, though it is known it will have no effect in reforming the nation. This refers, doubtless, to the destruction that was accomplished by the Babylonians.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
how long--will this wretched condition of the nation being hardened to its destruction continue? until-- (Isa 5:9) --fulfilled primarily at the Babylonish captivity, and more fully at the dispersion under the Roman Titus.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Be utterly desolate “Be left” - For תשאה tishaeh, the Septuagint and Vulgate read תשאר tishshaer.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
and the deserted places be many For the land will be abandoned by them, and this is the explanation of the language: Deserted places will increase in the midst of the land.
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. 5 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
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וָאֹמַ֕ר | vaomar | and I said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| מָתַ֖י | matai | when? | H4970 → | |
| אֲדֹנָ֑י | ʾadonai | O Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| וַיֹּ֡אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| עַ֣ד | ʾad | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| אֲשֶׁר֩ | ʾasher | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | <if> | H518 → | 1069 times |
| שָׁא֨וּ | shau | they have lain desolate | H7582 → | 6 times |
| עָרִ֜ים | ʾarim | cities | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| מֵאֵ֣ין | meein | from not | H369 → | 789 times |
| יוֹשֵׁ֗ב | yoshev | inhabitant | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| וּבָתִּים֙ | uvatim | and houses | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| מֵאֵ֣ין | meein | from not | H369 → | 789 times |
| אָדָ֔ם | ʾadam | anyone | H120 → | 551 times |
| וְהָאֲדָמָ֖ה | vehaadamah | and the ground | H127 → | 225 times |
| תִּשָּׁאֶ֥ה | tishaeh | it will be devastated | H7582 → | 6 times |
| שְׁמָמָֽה׃ | shemamah | a desolation | H8077 → | 57 times |
וָאֹמַ֕רand I said
vaomarH559 →5305 times
עַד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
מָתַ֖יwhen?
mataiH4970 →
אֲדֹנָ֑יO Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
וַיֹּ֡אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
עַ֣דuntil
ʾadH5704 →1261 times
אֲשֶׁר֩that
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אִם־<if>
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
שָׁא֨וּthey have lain desolate
shauH7582 →6 times
עָרִ֜יםcities
ʾarimH5892 →1090 times
מֵאֵ֣יןfrom not
meeinH369 →789 times
יוֹשֵׁ֗בinhabitant
yoshevH3427 →1079 times
וּבָתִּים֙and houses
uvatimH1004 →2046 times
מֵאֵ֣יןfrom not
meeinH369 →789 times
אָדָ֔םanyone
ʾadamH120 →551 times
וְהָאֲדָמָ֖הand the ground
vehaadamahH127 →225 times
תִּשָּׁאֶ֥הit will be devastated
tishaehH7582 →6 times
שְׁמָמָֽה׃a desolation
shemamahH8077 →57 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 94:3How long will the wicked, O LORD, how long will the wicked exult?
it leads to
- Revelation 6:10
And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You avenge our blood and judge those who dwell upon the earth?”
- Job 20:5
the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?
- Jeremiah 12:1–2
Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live…
- Revelation 6:10
Through
Isaiah 1:7Your land is desolate; your cities are burned with fire. Foreigners devour your fields before you—a desolation demolished by strangers.
it leads to
- Lamentations 5:2
Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our houses to foreigners.
- Deuteronomy 28:33
A people you do not know will eat the produce of your land and of all your toil. All your days you will be oppressed and crushed.
- Deuteronomy 28:43
The foreigner living among you will rise higher and higher above you, while you sink down lower and lower.
- Lamentations 5:2
Through
Psalms 90:13Return, O LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on Your servants.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:36
For the LORD will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone and no one remains, slave or free.
- Psalms 106:45
And He remembered His covenant with them, and relented by the abundance of His loving devotion.
- Deuteronomy 32:36
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies16
On this verse
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About Isaiah
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Eusebius of Caesarea, PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 2:3; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.