The Meaning of Isaiah 3:11 Explained

Isaiah 3:11

KJV: Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.

YLT: Woe to the wicked -- evil, Because the deed of his hand is done to him.

Darby: Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him, because the desert of his hands shall be rendered unto him.

ASV: Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him ; for what his hands have done shall be done unto him.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Woe  unto the wicked!  [it shall be] ill  [with him]: for the reward  of his hands  shall be given  him. 

What does Isaiah 3:11 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 3:11 mean?

Woe to the wicked [it shall be] ill [with him] for the reward of his hands shall be given him
א֖וֹי ! לְרָשָׁ֣ע רָ֑ע כִּֽי־ גְמ֥וּל יָדָ֖יו יֵעָ֥שֶׂה לּֽוֹ

א֖וֹי  Woe 
Parse: Interjection
Root: אֹוי  
Sense: woe! alas! oh!.
! לְרָשָׁ֣ע  to  the  wicked 
Parse: Preposition-l, Adjective, masculine singular
Root: רָשָׁע  
Sense: wicked, criminal.
רָ֑ע  [it  shall  be]  ill  [with  him] 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: רַע 
Sense: bad, evil.
גְמ֥וּל  the  reward 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: גְּמוּל  
Sense: dealing, recompense, benefit.
יָדָ֖יו  of  his  hands 
Parse: Noun, fdc, third person masculine singular
Root: יָד  
Sense: hand.
יֵעָ֥שֶׂה  shall  be  given 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: עָשָׂה 
Sense: to do, fashion, accomplish, make.