The Meaning of Isaiah 59:11 Explained

Isaiah 59:11

KJV: We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.

YLT: We make a noise as bears -- all of us, And as doves we coo sorely; We wait for judgment, and there is none, For salvation -- it hath been far from us.

Darby: We roar all like bears, and mourn grievously like doves: we look for judgment, and there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us.

ASV: We roar all like bears, and moan sore like doves: we look for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

We roar  all like bears,  and mourn  sore  like doves:  we look  for judgment,  but [there is] none; for salvation,  [but] it is far off  from us. 

What does Isaiah 59:11 Mean?

Verse Meaning

They could not even articulate their grief but simply growled and moaned like angry bears and pitiful doves (cf. Mark 7:34; John 11:38; Romans 8:22-23). This lament closes as it began, with an admission that justice and salvation were far from God"s people.

Context Summary

Isaiah 59:1-15 - Iniquities Separate From God
Israel's sins, Isaiah 59:1-8. Much of our suffering in life results from our sins, which cut off God's health and help. Let us not blame Providence, but set ourselves to discover the cause of controversy. When the law courts-the fountains of justice-are demoralized, the community is in a hopeless condition, Isaiah 59:3-4. Instead of stamping out evil in the egg, the sinful heart hatches it out, and it yields the poison of vipers, Isaiah 59:5. Ah, the hapless state of the ungodly! Their feet, and their thoughts, and their paths, are fatal to the peace of others and to their own. The way of peace can be entered only at the Cross, and maintained only by constant watchfulness. See Luke 1:79.
Israel's confession, Isaiah 59:9-15. Here the stricken people pour out their complaint before God, confessing, first, the bitterness of their sufferings and then the blackness of their sins. The roar of the hungry bear for food and the dove's mourning for her mate, Isaiah 59:11, are apt descriptions of the complaint of the penitent soul. It is a good sign when a man cannot lift up his eyes to heaven and beats upon his breast, Luke 18:13. [source]

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 59

1  Calamities are not due to lack of saving power in God, but to their own sins
16  Salvation is only of God
20  The covenant of the Redeemer

What do the individual words in Isaiah 59:11 mean?

We growl like bears all and like doves sadly moan we look for justice but [there is] none for salvation [but] it is far from us
נֶהֱמֶ֤ה כַדֻּבִּים֙ כֻּלָּ֔נוּ וְכַיּוֹנִ֖ים הָגֹ֣ה נֶהְגֶּ֑ה נְקַוֶּ֤ה לַמִּשְׁפָּט֙ וָאַ֔יִן לִֽישׁוּעָ֖ה רָחֲקָ֥ה מִמֶּֽנּוּ

נֶהֱמֶ֤ה  We  growl 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common plural
Root: הָמָה  
Sense: to murmur, growl, roar, cry aloud, mourn, rage, sound, make noise, tumult, be clamorous, be disquieted, be loud, be moved, be troubled, be in an uproar.
כַדֻּבִּים֙  like  bears 
Parse: Preposition-k, Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: דֹּב  
Sense: bear.
וְכַיּוֹנִ֖ים  and  like  doves 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-k, Article, Noun, feminine plural
Root: יׄונָה  
Sense: dove, pigeon.
הָגֹ֣ה  sadly 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Infinitive absolute
Root: הָגָה  
Sense: to moan, growl, utter, muse, mutter, meditate, devise, plot, speak.
נֶהְגֶּ֑ה  moan 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common plural
Root: הָגָה  
Sense: to moan, growl, utter, muse, mutter, meditate, devise, plot, speak.
נְקַוֶּ֤ה  we  look 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperfect, first person common plural
Root: קָוָה 
Sense: to wait, look for, hope, expect.
לַמִּשְׁפָּט֙  for  justice 
Parse: Preposition-l, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: מִשְׁפָּט  
Sense: judgment, justice, ordinance.
וָאַ֔יִן  but  [there  is]  none 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb
Root: אַיִן 
Sense: nothing, not, nought n.
לִֽישׁוּעָ֖ה  for  salvation 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, feminine singular
Root: יְשׁוּעָה  
Sense: salvation, deliverance.
רָחֲקָ֥ה  [but]  it  is  far 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: רָחַק  
Sense: to be or become far, be or become distant, be removed, go far away.
מִמֶּֽנּוּ  from  us 
Parse: Preposition, first person common plural
Root: מִן 
Sense: from, out of, on account of, off, on the side of, since, above, than, so that not, more than.