Isaiah 33:9
in Isaiah 33The land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is ashamed and decayed. Sharon is like a desert; Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The land mourneth and languisheth; Lebanon is confounded and withereth away; Sharon is like a desert; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
KJV
The earth mourneth and languisheth: Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down: Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.
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This verse in Isaiah 33
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The earth mourneth - The land through which he has passed. For the sense of this phrase, see the note at Isa 24:4. Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down - For the situation of Lebanon, see the note at Isa 10:34. Lebanon was distinguished for its ornaments of beautiful cedars. Here iris represented as being stript of these ornaments, and as covered with shame on that account.
This site's exposition
their valiant ones cry aloud in the streets
on Isaiah 33:7-9
Judah’s own collapse follows: "their valiant ones cry aloud in the streets", and "The highways are deserted". "The treaty has been broken", and "The land mourns and languishes", from Lebanon to Sharon, Bashan and Carmel. Franz Delitzsch noted that the four names mark the length of the land.
This site's exposition
Lebanon is ashamed and decayed
Barnes read the land that mourns as the country the destroyer of verse 1 had marched through. Lebanon is ashamed like a person stripped of ornaments, its cedars cut down. Sharon, Bashan and Carmel languish with it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 7 and following) Behold, those who see will cry out: The angels of peace will weep bitterly. The roads are abandoned, the passer-by has ceased on the path, the pact has become void, cities have been thrown down, men have not been regarded. The land has mourned and languished, Lebanon is confused and darkened, Sharon has become like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel have been shaken.
The Medieval Church1 voice
As to the destruction of regions: the land has mourned, and languished, and he names especially fertile regions; above (Isa 24:4, 7) has the same thing.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
He makes himself master of them so easily (though they are called fenced cities ), and meets with so little resistance, that he despises them, and has no relentings when he puts all to the sword; for he regards no man, has no pity or concern, no, not for those that he is under particular obligations to.
The desolation is universal. That part of the country which belonged to the ten tribes was already laid waste: " Lebanon famed for cedars, Sharon for roses, Bashan for cattle, Carmel for corn, all very fruitful, have now become like wildernesses, are ashamed to be called by their old names, they are so unlike what they were.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
The earth mourneth and languisheth,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
From the vision of future glory Isaiah returns to the disastrous present; the grief of "the valiant ones" (parallel to, and identical with, "the ambassadors of peace"), men of rank, sent with presents to sue for peace, but standing "without" the enemy's camp, their suit being rejected (2Ki 18:14, 18, 37).
Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits “Bashan and Carmel are stripped of their beauty” - Φανερα εσται, made manifest. Sept. They read ונערה veneerah.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Now I will rise Because of the many evils the enemy perpetrated against My people, I will no longer restrain Myself; now I will rise, be raised and be exalted.
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. 3 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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אָבַ֤ל | ʾaval | it has dried up | H56 → | 39 times |
| אֻמְלְלָה֙ | ʾumlelah | it has languished | H535 → | 16 times |
| אָ֔רֶץ | ʾaretz | [the] land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| הֶחְפִּ֥יר | hechpir | it has displayed shame | H2659 → | 17 times |
| לְבָנ֖וֹן | levanon | Lebanon | H3844 → | 71 times |
| קָמַ֑ל | kamal | it has withered | H7060 → | |
| הָיָ֤ה | hayah | it has become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| הַשָּׁרוֹן֙ | hasharon | <the> Sharon | H8289 → | 7 times |
| כָּֽעֲרָבָ֔ה | kaaravah | like <the> desert plain | H6160 → | 61 times |
| וְנֹעֵ֥ר | venoer | and [is] shaking off | H5287 → | 11 times |
| בָּשָׁ֖ן | bashan | Bashan | H1316 → | |
| וְכַרְמֶֽל׃ | vekharmel | and Carmel | H3760 → |
אָבַ֤לit has dried up
ʾavalH56 →39 times
אֻמְלְלָה֙it has languished
ʾumlelahH535 →16 times
אָ֔רֶץ[the] land
ʾaretzH776 →2504 times
הֶחְפִּ֥ירit has displayed shame
hechpirH2659 →17 times
לְבָנ֖וֹןLebanon
levanonH3844 →71 times
קָמַ֑לit has withered
kamalH7060 →
הָיָ֤הit has become
hayahH1961 →3559 times
הַשָּׁרוֹן֙<the> Sharon
hasharonH8289 →7 times
כָּֽעֲרָבָ֔הlike <the> desert plain
kaaravahH6160 →61 times
וְנֹעֵ֥רand [is] shaking off
venoerH5287 →11 times
בָּשָׁ֖ןBashan
bashanH1316 →
וְכַרְמֶֽל׃and Carmel
vekharmelH3760 →
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
Nahum 1:4He rebukes the sea and dries it up; He makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither, and the flower of Lebanon wilts.
it leads to
- Psalms 106:9
He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; He led them through the depths as through a desert.
- Joshua 3:13–15
When the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD—the Lord of all the earth—touch down in the waters of the Jordan, its flowing waters will be cut off and will…
- Psalms 106:9
Through
Isaiah 35:2It will bloom profusely and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the LORD, the…
it leads to
- Romans 10:15
And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
- Isaiah 60:13
The glory of Lebanon will come to you—its cypress, elm, and boxwood together—to adorn the place of My sanctuary, and I will glorify the place of My feet.
- Isaiah 25:9
And in that day it will be said, “Surely this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He has saved us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited. Let us…
- Habakkuk 2:14
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
- Amos 9:13–15
“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes, the sower of seed. The mountains will drip with sweet wine, with which all…
- Romans 10:15
Through
Isaiah 65:10Sharon will become a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds, for My people who seek Me.
it leads to
- Isaiah 35:2
It will bloom profusely and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the LORD, the…
- Isaiah 35:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 9 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); 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.