Isaiah 51:19
in Isaiah 51These pairs have befallen you: devastation and destruction, famine and sword. Who will grieve for you? Who can comfort you?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
These two things are befallen thee, who shall bemoan thee? desolation and destruction, and the famine and the sword; how shall I comfort thee?
KJV
These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee?
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This verse in Isaiah 51
Commentary
12 notes on this verseBy "two," he means the bravery of the adversaries and the desertion of the auxiliaries: while the former attack with courage, the others flee in a cowardly fashion. "Downfall and destruction." He has again presented two calamities: that of falling and that of being crushed. …
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
devastation and destruction, famine and sword
Barnes, after Lowth, pairs the words crosswise, devastation by famine and destruction by the sword. Theodoret reads the pair as bold enemies and fleeing allies. The question of who will grieve asks, in Barnes's reading, who could pity her enough to bring relief.
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 Medieval Church2 voices
"These two things have befallen you," that is, they have befallen you because of your sins. You have abandoned God, and you have followed the idols; that is why two punishments have come over you, "famine and sword," because "devastation" comes from the sword and …
Of compassion: there are two things; in goods, desolation, the effect of which is famine; in persons, destruction, the end of which is the killing sword: such as are for the sword, to the sword (Jer 15:2); and of comfort, who shall comfort you? There …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
So famine and sword are not named as new evils, but only as the particular ways of bringing the destruction. By whom - I cannot find any man who is able to comfort and relieve thee.
), to complete thy desolation and destruction, even the famine and the sword, two sore judgments, and very terrible. Or the two things were the desolation and destruction by which the city was wasted and the famine and sword by which the citizens perished.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
These two things are come unto thee,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
These two things are come unto thee - Margin, ‘Happened.’ That is, two sources of calamity have come upon thee; to wit, famine and the sword, producing desolation and destruction; or desolation by famine, and destruction by the sword (see Lowth on Hebrew Poetry, Lect. xix.) The idea here is, that far-spread destruction had occurred, caused by the two things, famine and the sword. Who shall be sorry for thee? - That is, who shall be able so to pity thee as to furnish relief? Desolation - By famine.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
two--classes of evils, for he enumerates four, namely, desolation and destruction to the land and state; famine and the sword to the people. who shall be sorry for thee--so as to give thee effectual relief: as the parallel clause, "By whom shall I comfort thee?" shows (La 2:11-13).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
These two things - desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword - That is, desolation by famine, and destruction by the sword, taking the terms alternately: of which form of construction see other examples. De S. Poesi, Hebrews Prael. xix., and Prelim. Dissert. p. 30. The Chaldee paraphrast, not rightly understanding this, has had recourse to the following expedient: “Two afflictions are come upon thee, and when four shall come upon thee, depredation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword” Five MSS. הרעב haraab, without the conjunction ו vau; and so the Septuagint and Syriac. By whom shall I comfort thee “Who shall comfort thee” - A MS., the Septuagint, Syriac, Chaldee, and Vulgate have it in the third person, ינחמך yenachamech, which is evidently right.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שְׁתַּ֤יִם | shetayim | two [things] | H8147 → | 768 times |
| הֵ֙נָּה֙ | henah | they | H2007 → | |
| קֹֽרְאֹתַ֔יִךְ | koreotayikh | [have] happened to you | H7122 → | 139 times |
| מִ֖י | mi | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| יָנ֣וּד | yanud | does he show sympathy | H5110 → | |
| לָ֑ךְ | lakh | to you | ||
| הַשֹּׁ֧ד | hashod | the devastation | H7701 → | 25 times |
| וְהַשֶּׁ֛בֶר | vehashever | and the destruction | H7667 → | 45 times |
| וְהָרָעָ֥ב | veharaav | and the famine | H7458 → | 101 times |
| וְהַחֶ֖רֶב | vehacherev | and the sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| מִ֥י | mi | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| אֲנַחֲמֵֽךְ׃ | ʾanachamekh | do I comfort you | H5162 → | 108 times |
שְׁתַּ֤יִםtwo [things]
shetayimH8147 →768 times
הֵ֙נָּה֙they
henahH2007 →
קֹֽרְאֹתַ֔יִךְ[have] happened to you
koreotayikhH7122 →139 times
מִ֖יwho?
miH4310 →423 times
יָנ֣וּדdoes he show sympathy
yanudH5110 →
לָ֑ךְto you
lakh
הַשֹּׁ֧דthe devastation
hashodH7701 →25 times
וְהַשֶּׁ֛בֶרand the destruction
vehasheverH7667 →45 times
וְהָרָעָ֥בand the famine
veharaavH7458 →101 times
וְהַחֶ֖רֶבand the sword
vehacherevH2719 →413 times
מִ֥יwho?
miH4310 →423 times
אֲנַחֲמֵֽךְ׃do I comfort you
ʾanachamekhH5162 →108 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
Isaiah 61:2to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of our God’s vengeance, to comfort all who mourn,
it leads to
- Matthew 5:4
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
- Isaiah 34:8
For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
- Luke 4:19
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
- Isaiah 57:18
I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him and his mourners,
- 2 Thessalonians 2:16–17
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who by grace has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope,
- Matthew 5:4
Through
Psalms 69:20Insults have broken my heart, and I am in despair. I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found no one.
it leads to
- Isaiah 63:5
I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled that no one assisted. So My arm brought Me salvation, and My own wrath upheld Me.
- Psalms 142:4
Look to my right and see; no one attends to me. There is no refuge for me; no one cares for my soul.
- Job 16:2
“I have heard many things like these; miserable comforters are you all.
- Isaiah 63:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
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 on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ishodad of Merv, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 51:19; 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; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 16:51.19 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.