Isaiah 47:10
in Isaiah 47You were secure in your wickedness; you said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge led you astray; you told yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness; thou hast said, None seeth me; thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee, and thou hast said in thy heart, I am, and there is none else besides me.
KJV
For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me.
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This verse in Isaiah 47
Commentary
13 notes on this verseAnd since Isaiah could not find one man to address, he spoke to the daughter of the Chaldeans, promising these things especially: The astrologers of heaven maintained and supported you, announcing to you what was coming to you from heaven.
This site's exposition
O lover of luxury who sits securely
on Isaiah 47:8-11
Twice she claims what the LORD says in the chapters around it, “I am, and there is none besides me”. The two losses, “loss of children, and widowhood”, come “in a moment, in a single day”. Verse 10 names the cause, “Your wisdom and knowledge led you astray”.
This site's exposition
You were secure in your wickedness
Henry observes that Babylon felt secure in her wickedness, when that wickedness was the one thing certain to ruin her. Her boast that no one sees her forgets the LORD. Barnes takes the wickedness to be her pride, ambition and oppression of other nations.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 8, onwards) And now listen to this, you delicate and confident one, who says in your heart: I am, and there is no one besides me; I will not sit as a widow, nor will I know the loss of children. But suddenly these two things will come upon you in one day: widowhood and loss of children. They have come upon you in their entirety because of the multitude of your sorceries and the great abundance of your enchantments. And you have trusted in your wickedness, and you have said: There is no one who sees me.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, the error they fell into because of these things, namely, they thought they had immunity from punishment because these things denied divine providence: and you have trusted, that you might safely sin; there is none, no God, that sees me sinning, that he might …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
They doubt not but they shall be too hard for all their enemies, because they dare lie, and kill, and forswear themselves, and do any thing for their interest. Thus they trust in their wickedness to secure them, which is the only thing that will ruin them.
It is presumption to say of any creature, "It is, and there is not its like, there is none besides it" (for creatures stand very nearly upon a level with one another); but it is insufferable arrogance for any to say so of themselves, and an evidence of their self-ignorance.
Virgin - So, called, because she was tender and delicate. The empire is taken from thee, and translated to the Persians. Millstones - Thou shalt be brought to the basest slavery, which grinding at the mill was esteemed.
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
None seeth - My counsels are so deeply laid. Perverted - Hath misled thee into the way of perdition. None seeth - Which is repeated, to denote their intolerable self- confidence.
For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness,....
It is common for sinners to promise themselves impunity, because they promise themselves secrecy, in their wicked ways. They trust to their wicked arts and designs to stand them in stead, because they think they have carried them on so plausibly that none can discern the wickedness and deceit of them.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness - The word ‘wickedness’ here refers doubtless to the pride, arrogance, ambition, and oppressions of Babylon. It means, that she had supposed that she was able by these to maintain the ascendancy over other nations, and perpetuate her dominion. She supposed that by her great power, her natural advantages, and her wealth, she could resist the causes which had operated to destroy other nations.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
wickedness--as in Isa 13:11, the cruelty with which Babylon treated its subject states. None seeth me-- (Ps 10:11; "There is none to exact punishment from me." Sinners are not safe, though seeming secret.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
your wisdom and your knowledge Your wisdom and the evil of your heart that perverted you. They turned your heart to be perverted, envesede in O.F. It perverted you from the way of other people (other daughters [mss. and K’li Paz]).
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. 7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתִּבְטְחִ֣י | vativtechi | and you trusted | H982 → | 120 times |
| בְרָעָתֵ֗ךְ | veraatekh | in evil your | H7451 → | 662 times |
| אָמַרְתְּ֙ | ʾamart | you said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֵ֣ין | ʾein | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| רֹאָ֔נִי | roani | [is one who] sees me | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| חָכְמָתֵ֥ךְ | chakhematekh | wisdom your | H2451 → | 153 times |
| וְדַעְתֵּ֖ךְ | veda'tekh | and knowledge your | H1847 → | 92 times |
| הִ֣יא | hi' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| שׁוֹבְבָ֑תֶךְ | shovatekh | it has led away you | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| וַתֹּאמְרִ֣י | vatomri | and you said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| בְלִבֵּ֔ךְ | velibekh | in heart your | H3820 → | 595 times |
| אֲנִ֖י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| וְאַפְסִ֥י | veafsi | and only I | H657 → | 44 times |
| עֽוֹד׃ | od | [am] yet | H5750 → | 490 times |
וַתִּבְטְחִ֣יand you trusted
vativtechiH982 →120 times
בְרָעָתֵ֗ךְin evil your
veraatekhH7451 →662 times
אָמַרְתְּ֙you said
ʾamartH559 →5305 times
אֵ֣יןthere not
ʾeinH369 →789 times
רֹאָ֔נִי[is one who] sees me
roaniH7200 →1300 times
חָכְמָתֵ֥ךְwisdom your
chakhematekhH2451 →153 times
וְדַעְתֵּ֖ךְand knowledge your
veda'tekhH1847 →92 times
הִ֣יאit
hi'H1931 →1879 times
שׁוֹבְבָ֑תֶךְit has led away you
shovatekhH7725 →1056 times
וַתֹּאמְרִ֣יand you said
vatomriH559 →5305 times
בְלִבֵּ֔ךְin heart your
velibekhH3820 →595 times
אֲנִ֖יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
וְאַפְסִ֥יand only I
veafsiH657 →44 times
עֽוֹד׃[am] yet
odH5750 →490 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
Romans 1:22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools,
it leads to
- Proverbs 26:12
Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Corinthians 1:19–21
For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
- Proverbs 26:12
Through
Isaiah 5:21Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 3:18–20
Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in this age, he should become a fool, so that he may become wise.
- Proverbs 3:7
Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil.
- Romans 12:16
Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but enjoy the company of the lowly. Do not be conceited.
- 1 Corinthians 3:18–20
Through
Isaiah 29:15Woe to those who dig deep to hide their plans from the LORD. In darkness they do their works and say, “Who sees us, and who will know?”
it leads to
- Ezekiel 8:12
“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? For they are…
- Isaiah 30:1
“Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out a plan that is not Mine, who form an alliance, but against My will, heaping up sin upon sin.
- Ezekiel 8:12
Through
Psalms 52:7“Look at the man who did not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his wealth and strengthened himself by destruction.”
it leads to
- Jeremiah 17:5
This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes the flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD.
- Jeremiah 17:5
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on 10 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); Eusebius of Caesarea, PREPARATION FOR THE GOSPEL 6:11; 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 (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.