Isaiah 8:22
in Isaiah 8Then they will look to the earth and see only distress and darkness and the gloom of anguish. And they will be driven into utter darkness.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and they shall look unto the earth, and, behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and into thick darkness they shall be driven away.
KJV
And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.
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This verse in Isaiah 8
Commentary
8 notes on this verse(Verse 19 and following) And when they say to you, seek from the Pythons and the diviners, who make their enchantments, whether not the people seeks from their God for the living from the dead? To the law more and to the testimony. If they do not speak according to this word, it will not be morning light for them. And they will pass through it: they will fall down and be hungry: and when they are hungry, they will become angry and curse their king and their God.
This site's exposition
They will roam the land
on Isaiah 8:21-22
Those who reject the testimony "roam the land, dejected and hungry," and hunger turns to rage instead of repentance. Looking to the earth they find "only distress and darkness and the gloom of anguish." The chapter closes in gloom, the darkness chapter 9 names and answers with a great light.
This site's exposition
they will be driven into utter darkness
Verse 21 has them look upward, and here they look to the earth, and neither way gives relief. Barnes reads the anguish as the price of leaving the true God as counselor, and he points back to 5:30. Isaiah 9:1 and 2 answer this gloom with a great light.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
296. And look upwards. Here he sets out the sadness of despair, and first, the expectation of help: look upwards, seeking help from heaven. And they shall look to the earth, to help from earth; above: they shall look towards the land, and behold darkness …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The foolishness of man perverts his way, and then his heart frets against the Lord, Prov. xix. See what need we have to keep our mouth as with a bridle when our heart is hot within us; for the language of fretfulness is commonly very offensive. [4.] They shall abandon themselves to despair, and, which way soever they look, shall see no probability of relief.
And they shall look unto the earth,....
Orders given to the prophet to write this prophecy, and publish it to be seen and read of all men, and to leave it upon record, that when the thing came to pass they might know that God had sent him; for that was one end of prophecy, John xiv.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And they shall look unto the earth - They would look upward and find no relief, and then in despair cast their eyes to the earth to obtain help there. Yet equally in vain. The whole image is one of intense anguish brought on the nation for leaving the counselor the true God. And behold ... - see the note at Isa 5:30. Trouble - Anguish, oppression, צרה tsârâh, from צור tsûr, to oppress, to straiten, to afflict. This is a remarkable instance of the prophet Isaiah’s manner - of a rapid, impetuous, and bold style of utterance.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאֶל־ | veel- | and to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אֶ֖רֶץ | ʾeretz | [the] earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| יַבִּ֑יט | yabit | it will look | H5027 → | 69 times |
| וְהִנֵּ֨ה | vehineh | and there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| צָרָ֤ה | tzarah | trouble | H6869 → | 73 times |
| וַחֲשֵׁכָה֙ | vachashekhah | and darkness | H2825 → | |
| מְע֣וּף | meuf | gloom of | H4588 → | |
| צוּקָ֔ה | tzukah | distress | H6695 → | |
| וַאֲפֵלָ֖ה | vaafelah | and gloom | H653 → | 10 times |
| מְנֻדָּֽח׃ | menudach | [it is] thrust out | H5080 → | 55 times |
וְאֶל־and to
veel-H413 →5510 times
אֶ֖רֶץ[the] earth
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
יַבִּ֑יטit will look
yabitH5027 →69 times
וְהִנֵּ֨הand there!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
צָרָ֤הtrouble
tzarahH6869 →73 times
וַחֲשֵׁכָה֙and darkness
vachashekhahH2825 →
מְע֣וּףgloom of
meufH4588 →
צוּקָ֔הdistress
tzukahH6695 →
וַאֲפֵלָ֖הand gloom
vaafelahH653 →10 times
מְנֻדָּֽח׃[it is] thrust out
menudachH5080 →55 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
Matthew 8:12But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
it leads to
- Matthew 25:30
And throw that worthless servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 13:50
and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 24:51
Then he will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Luke 13:28
There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves are thrown out.
- Matthew 21:43
Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.
- Matthew 25:30
Through
Matthew 22:13Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
it leads to
- Matthew 8:12
But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
- Matthew 8:12
Through
Jeremiah 13:16Give glory to the LORD your God before He brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the dusky mountains. You wait for light, but He turns it into deep gloom and thick darkness.
it leads to
- Isaiah 59:9
Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We hope for light, but there is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
- Proverbs 4:19
But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they do not know what makes them stumble.
- Isaiah 59:9
Where this verse is studied
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); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; 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.