Isaiah 59:4 BSB — MannaFest

Isaiah 59:4

No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case honestly. They rely on empty pleas; they tell lies; they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

None sueth in righteousness, and none pleadeth in truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.

KJV

None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.

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Commentary

4 voices

Jerome

Commentary on Isaiah (420)

(V. 3, 4.) For your hands are polluted with blood, and your fingers with iniquity: your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wickedness. There is no one who calls for justice, nor is there anyone who truly judges: but they trust in nothingness, and speak vanities. LXX: For your hands are polluted with blood, and your fingers with sins. Your lips are polluted with iniquity, and your tongue meditates injustice. No one speaks the truth: there is no fair judgment. They trust in empty things, and speak worthless words, injustices and sins.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

Athanasius of Alexandria

296–373

FESTAL LETTERS 11:4 (373)

Now those who meditate evil, we say, do not [think] truth but falsehood, and not righteousness but iniquity, for their tongue learns to speak lies. They have done evil and have not ceased that they might repent. For, persevering with delight in wicked actions, they hasten thereto without turning back, even treading under foot the commandment with regard to neighbors, and instead of loving them, they devise evil against them, as the saint testifies, saying, "And those who seek my evil have spoken vanity and imagined deceit all the day."

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Though it is in pain perhaps that the iniquity is brought forth, through the oppositions of Providences and the checks of their own consciences, yet, when they have compassed their wicked purpose, they look upon it with as much pride and pleasure as if it were a man-child born into the world; thus, when lust has conceived, it bringeth forth sin, Jam. i.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

They conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity - There is a curious propriety in this mode of expression; a thought or purpose is compared to conception; a word or act, which is the consequence of it, to the birth of a child. From the third to the fifteenth verse inclusive may be considered a true statement of the then moral state of the Jewish people; and that they were, in the most proper sense of the word, guilty of the iniquities with which they are charged.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

15 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
אֵין־	'ein-	there not	H369 →
קֹרֵ֣א	ko.Re'	[is one who] calls	H7121 →
בְצֶ֔דֶק	ve.Tze.dek	in righteousness	H6664 →
וְאֵ֥ין	ve.'Ein	and there not	H369 →
נִשְׁפָּ֖ט	nish.Pat	[is one who] enters into judgment	H8199 →
בֶּאֱמוּנָ֑ה	be.'e.mu.Nah	in truth	H530 →
בָּט֤וֹחַ	ba.To.ach	[they are] trusting	H982 →
עַל־	'al-	on	H5921 →
תֹּ֙הוּ֙	to.hu	emptiness	H8414 →
וְדַבֶּר־	ve.da.ber-	and they speak	H1696 →
שָׁ֔וְא	Shav'	worthlessness	H7723 →
הָר֥וֹ	ha.Ro	they conceive	H2029 →
עָמָ֖ל	'a.Mal	mischief	H5999 →
וְהוֹלֵ֥יד	ve.ho.Leid	and they bring forth	H3205 →
אָֽוֶן׃	'A.ven	wickedness	H205 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
James 1:15
Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
leads to
- Psalms 7:14
  Behold, the wicked man travails with evil; he conceives trouble and births falsehood.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Job 15:35
  They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb is pregnant with deceit.”
- Romans 5:12–21
  Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned.
- Genesis 2:17
  but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”
- Genesis 3:6
  When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave…
Through
Jeremiah 7:4
Do not trust in deceptive words, chanting: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’
leads to
- Micah 3:11
  Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster…
- Matthew 3:9–10
  And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
Through
Job 15:35
They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb is pregnant with deceit.”
leads to
- Hosea 10:13
  You have plowed wickedness and reaped injustice; you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your own way and in the multitude of your mighty men,

Featured studies on this passage

Walks through Isaiah 59

The Armor of God

Roman legionary equipment surveyed by Paul as Christian discipline (Eph 6:10–18). Six pieces of armor and a seventh element — prayer — that is posture, not armor. Every piece carries an OT echo.

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Walks through Isaiah 59

The Universal Indictment, MannaFest

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Walks through Isaiah 59

The Whole Armour

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About Isaiah

The Prophet Isaiah — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Isaiah: the study guide →Read chapter 59 →The featured study →

Continue: Isaiah 59 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Isaiah

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Isaiah