Isaiah 9:20
in Isaiah 9They carve out what is on the right, but they are still hungry; they eat what is on the left, but they are still not satisfied. Each one devours the flesh of his own offspring.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And one shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm:
KJV
And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm:
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This verse in Isaiah 9
Commentary
9 notes on this verse(Vers. 14 seqq.) And the Lord will scatter from Israel the head and the tail, the bend and the corrupt in one day. The venerable and honorable, he is the head; and the Prophet teaching falsehood, he is the tail. And there will be those who call this people blessed, deceiving, and those who are called blessed, being cast down. Therefore, the Lord will not rejoice over his young men, and will not have mercy on his orphans and widows, for every hypocrite is wicked, and every mouth has spoken foolishness.
This site's exposition
They carve out what is
on Isaiah 9:20-21
Hunger drives the nation to devour itself, "Each one devours the flesh of his own offspring," want turned entirely inward. Manasseh and Ephraim, brother tribes of one father, turn on each other and "together they turn against Judah," civil strife added to foreign invasion. The refrain closes the chapter.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
320. And he shall turn to the right hand. Here he threatens the same punishment under the metaphor of famine. And first, he sets out the metaphor, and he shall turn, as if his deeds are seen, to the right hand, by which friends are …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry,.... Either with his hand, and rob and plunder all within his reach; or, with his teeth, as cannibals, or beasts of prey, catch at, tear, and rend in pieces, whatever comes in their way; and yet hungry after more, and unsatisfied, as follows: and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied; ravage and spoil on every side, and yet not content.
The hedge of property, which is a hedge of protection to men's estates, shall be plucked up, and every man shall think all that his own which he can lay his hands on ( vivitur ex rapto, non hospes ab hospite tutus--they live on the spoil, and the rites of hospitality are all violated ); and yet, when men thus catch at that which is none of their own, they are not satisfied.
Three things are here promised, and they all point ultimately at the grace of the gospel, which the saints then were to comfort themselves with the hopes of in every cloudy and dark day, as we now are to comfort ourselves in time of trouble with the hopes of Christ's second coming, though that be now, as his first coming then was, a thing at a great distance.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The flesh of his own arm “The flesh of his neighbor” - “Του βραχιονος του αδελφου αυτου, the Septuagint Alexand. Duplex versio, quarum altera legit רעו reo, quae vox extat, Jer 6:21. Nam רע rea, αδελφος, Gen 43:33. Recte ni fallor.” - Secker. I add to this excellent remark, that the Chaldee manifestly reads רעו reo, his neighbor, not זרעו zeroo, his arm; for he renders it by קריביה karibeyh, his neighbor. And Jeremiah has the very same expression: ואיש בשר רעהו יאכלו veish besar reehu yochelu, “and every one shall eat the flesh of his neighbor,” Jer 19:
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)
"They (the thickets of the forest) shall lift themselves proudly aloft [the Hebrew is from a Syriac root, a cock, expressing stateliness of motion, from his strutting gait, HORSLEY], in (in passing into) volumes of ascending smoke" [MAURER].
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And he shall snatch - Hebrew, ‘He shall cut off.’ Many have supposed that this refers to a state of famine; but others regard it as descriptive of a state of faction extending throughout the whole community, dissolving the most tender ties, arid producing a dissolution of all the bonds of life. The context Isa 9:19, Isa 9:21 shows, that the latter is meant; though it is not improbable that it would be attended with famine. When it is said that he ‘would cut off his right hand,’ it denotes a condition of internal anarchy and strife. And be hungry - And not be satisfied. Such would be his rage, and his desire of blood, that he would be insatiable. The retarder of those on one side of him would not appease his insatiable wrath. His desire of carnage would be so great that it would be like unappeased hunger. And he shall eat - The idea here is that of contending factions excited by fury, rage, envy, hatred, contending in mingled strife, and spreading death with insatiable desire everywhere around them. They shall eat - Not literally; but “shall destroy.” To eat the flesh of anyone, denotes to seek one’s life, and is descriptive of blood-thirsty enemies; Psa 27:2: ‘When the wicked, even mine enemies and foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell;’ Job 19:22: Why do ye persecute me as God, And are not satisfied with my flesh? Compare Deu 7:16; Jer 10:25; Jer 30:15; Jer 50:17; Hos 7:7; see Ovid’s Metam. 8, 867: Ipse suos artus lacero divellere morsu Coepit; et infelix minuendo corpus alebat. The flesh of his own arm - The Chaldee renders this, ‘Each one shall devour the substance of his neighbor.’ Lowth proposes to read it, ‘The flesh of his neighbor.’ but without sufficient authority. […]
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּגְזֹ֤ר | vaiyigzor | and it devoured | H1504 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| יָמִין֙ | yamin | [the] right [side] | H3225 → | 140 times |
| וְרָעֵ֔ב | veraev | and it was hungry | H7456 → | 13 times |
| וַיֹּ֥אכַל | vaiyokhal | and it ate | H398 → | 810 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| שְׂמֹ֖אול | semol | [the] left [side] | H8040 → | |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שָׂבֵ֑עוּ | saveu | they were satisfied | H7646 → | 97 times |
| אִ֥ישׁ | ʾish | everyone | H376 → | 1663 times |
| בְּשַׂר־ | besar- | [the] flesh of | H1320 → | 270 times |
| זְרֹע֖וֹ | zeroo | own arm his | H2220 → | 91 times |
| יֹאכֵֽלוּ׃ | yokhelu | they ate | H398 → | 810 times |
וַיִּגְזֹ֤רand it devoured
vaiyigzorH1504 →
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
יָמִין֙[the] right [side]
yaminH3225 →140 times
וְרָעֵ֔בand it was hungry
veraevH7456 →13 times
וַיֹּ֥אכַלand it ate
vaiyokhalH398 →810 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
שְׂמֹ֖אול[the] left [side]
semolH8040 →
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
שָׂבֵ֑עוּthey were satisfied
saveuH7646 →97 times
אִ֥ישׁeveryone
ʾishH376 →1663 times
בְּשַׂר־[the] flesh of
besar-H1320 →270 times
זְרֹע֖וֹown arm his
zerooH2220 →91 times
יֹאכֵֽלוּ׃they ate
yokheluH398 →810 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
Lamentations 4:10The hands of compassionate women have cooked their own children, who became their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 6:26–29
As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, “Help me, my lord the king!”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Kings 6:26–29
Through
Isaiah 49:26I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine. Then all mankind will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your…
it leads to
- Isaiah 41:14–20
Do not fear, O worm of Jacob, O few men of Israel. I will help you,” declares the LORD. “Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
- Isaiah 9:4
For as in the day of Midian You have shattered the yoke of their burden, the bar across their shoulders, and the rod of their oppressor.
- Revelation 16:6
For they have spilled the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink, as they deserve.”
- Isaiah 43:3
For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place.
- Psalms 9:16
The LORD is known by the justice He brings; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. Higgaion Selah
- Isaiah 41:14–20
Through
Jeremiah 19:9I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh in the siege and distress inflicted on them by their enemies who seek their lives.’
it leads to
- Leviticus 26:29
You will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters.
- Lamentations 4:10
The hands of compassionate women have cooked their own children, who became their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
- Leviticus 26:29
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Isaiah
This page draws on 9 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); 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.