The Meaning of Isaiah 3:10 Explained

Isaiah 3:10

KJV: Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.

YLT: Say ye to the righteous, that it is good, Because the fruit of their doings they eat.

Darby: Say ye of the righteous that it shall be well with him, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.

ASV: Say ye of the righteous, that it shall be well with him ; for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Say  ye to the righteous,  that [it shall be] well  [with him]: for they shall eat  the fruit  of their doings. 

What does Isaiah 3:10 Mean?

Context Summary

Isaiah 3:1-12 - An Exhortation To Humility And Reverence
If men will not repent, they must suffer. If they will not voluntarily put away their idols and sorceries, they will be compelled to do so in the anguish of their disappointment with their helpless deities, Isaiah 2:20. Nothing in that great civilization would be spared. High towers, fenced walls, ships, treasures, armor-all would perish. Their vaunted faith in man would cease. Life would become elemental in its simplicity amid the shelter of the ragged rocks. In sarcastic phrase the prophet depicts a despairing nation choosing for ruler the first man that came along with a decent coat on his back, Isaiah 2:6; but in vain. We can almost hear the sob of the prophet's soul in Isaiah 2:8-9, and recall the tears of a greater than Isaiah, Who wept over this same Jerusalem eight hundred years afterward. Patriotism is one of the purest passions that can burn in the heart of man! "Lives there a man, with soul so dead, that never to himself has said, This is my own, my native land!" [source]

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 3

1  The great calamities which come by sin
10  The different rewards of the righteous and wicked
12  The oppression and covetousness of the rulers
16  The judgments which shall be for the pride of the women
25  The general desolation

What do the individual words in Isaiah 3:10 mean?

Say to the righteous that [it shall be] well [with them] for the fruit of their doings they shall eat
אִמְר֥וּ צַדִּ֖יק כִּי־ ט֑וֹב כִּֽי־ פְרִ֥י מַעַלְלֵיהֶ֖ם יֹאכֵֽלוּ

אִמְר֥וּ  Say 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
צַדִּ֖יק  to  the  righteous 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: צַדִּיק  
Sense: just, lawful, righteous.
כִּי־  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: כִּי 
Sense: that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since.
ט֑וֹב  [it  shall  be]  well  [with  them] 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: טָבַב 
Sense: good, pleasant, agreeable.
פְרִ֥י  the  fruit 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: פְּרִי  
Sense: fruit.
מַעַלְלֵיהֶ֖ם  of  their  doings 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine plural
Root: מַעֲלִיל 
Sense: deed, practice.
יֹאכֵֽלוּ  they  shall  eat 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: אָכַל  
Sense: to eat, devour, burn up, feed.