The Meaning of Isaiah 3:8 Explained

Isaiah 3:8

KJV: For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory.

YLT: For stumbled hath Jerusalem, and Judah hath fallen, For their tongue and their doings are against Jehovah, To provoke the eyes of His glory.

Darby: For Jerusalem stumbleth and Judah falleth, because their tongue and their doings are against Jehovah, to provoke the eyes of his glory.

ASV: For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen; because their tongue and their doings are against Jehovah, to provoke the eyes of his glory.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For Jerusalem  is ruined,  and Judah  is fallen:  because their tongue  and their doings  [are] against the LORD,  to provoke  the eyes  of his glory. 

What does Isaiah 3:8 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The reason for these conditions is that Israel was already defying Yahweh by depending on humans rather than on Him.

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 3:8 mean?

For stumbled Jerusalem and Judah is fallen because their tongue and their doings [Are] against Yahweh to provoke the eyes of His glory
כִּ֤י כָשְׁלָה֙ יְר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔ם וִיהוּדָ֖ה נָפָ֑ל כִּֽי־ לְשׁוֹנָ֤ם וּמַֽעַלְלֵיהֶם֙ אֶל־ יְהוָ֔ה לַמְר֖וֹת עֵנֵ֥י כְבוֹדֽוֹ

כָשְׁלָה֙  stumbled 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: כָּשַׁל  
Sense: to stumble, stagger, totter.
יְר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔ם  Jerusalem 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: יְרוּשָׁלַםִ  
Sense: the chief city of Palestine and capital of the united kingdom and the nation of Judah after the split.
וִיהוּדָ֖ה  and  Judah 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יְהוּדָה  
Sense: the son of Jacob by Leah.
נָפָ֑ל  is  fallen 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: נָפַל  
Sense: to fall, lie, be cast down, fail.
כִּֽי־  because 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: כִּי 
Sense: that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since.
לְשׁוֹנָ֤ם  their  tongue 
Parse: Noun, common singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: לָשֹׁון  
Sense: tongue.
וּמַֽעַלְלֵיהֶם֙  and  their  doings 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine plural
Root: מַעֲלִיל 
Sense: deed, practice.
אֶל־  [Are]  against 
Parse: Preposition
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
יְהוָ֔ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
לַמְר֖וֹת  to  provoke 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Hifil, Infinitive construct
Root: מָרָה  
Sense: to be contentious, be rebellious, be refractory, be disobedient towards, be rebellious against.
עֵנֵ֥י  the  eyes 
Parse: Noun, cdc
Root: עֹונָה 
Sense: eye.
כְבוֹדֽוֹ  of  His  glory 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: כָּבֹוד  
Sense: glory, honour, glorious, abundance.