The Meaning of Isaiah 5:13 Explained

Isaiah 5:13

KJV: Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.

YLT: Therefore my people removed without knowledge, And its honourable ones are famished, And its multitude dried up of thirst.

Darby: Therefore my people are led away captive from lack of knowledge, and their nobility die of famine, and their multitude are parched with thirst.

ASV: Therefore my people are gone into captivity for lack of knowledge; and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude are parched with thirst.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Therefore my people  are gone into captivity,  because [they have] no knowledge:  and their honourable  men  [are] famished,  and their multitude  dried up  with thirst. 

What does Isaiah 5:13 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The result of driving other people off their land and living only for pleasure would be, ironically, that the Israelites would be driven off their land and enjoy little pleasure. Instead of more food and drink there would be famine and parched throats for all the people (cf. Isaiah 3:16-24). Each of the two double "therefore" sections contains a short description of the immediate consequences of the sins just mentioned ( Isaiah 5:13; Isaiah 5:24), and then a longer description of the long-term results ( Isaiah 5:14-17; Isaiah 5:24). Carousing would end in captivity.

Context Summary

Isaiah 5:1-17 - A Disappointing Harvest
In a picture of great beauty, Isaiah describes a vineyard situated on one of the sunny heights visible from Jerusalem. Every care which an experienced vine-dresser could devise had been expended on it, but in vain. The vine-dresser himself is introduced, demanding if more could have been done. When God selects a nation, a church, or an individual for high and holy work in the world and expends care and pains on the preparation of the instrument, and His plans miscarry through no failure on His part but through the obstinancy or obtuseness of the human soul, the measure of what might have been is the gauge of its doom. The worst weeds grow on the richest soil. This picture is the counterpart of Paul's dread of being a castaway, 1 Corinthians 9:27.
The six woes which follow, arising from drunkenness and avarice remind us of sorrows that menace the selfish heart. How different such a lot to the blessedness of the humblest soul that possesses God and is possessed by Him! "Evil shall slay the wicked; and they that hate the righteous shall be condemned. Jehovah redeemeth the soul of His servants; and none of them that take refuge in Him shall be condemned," Psalms 34:21-22. [source]

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 5

1  Under the parable of a vineyard, God excuses his severe judgment
8  His judgments upon covetousness
11  Upon lasciviousness
13  Upon impiety
20  And upon injustice
26  The executioners of God's judgments

What do the individual words in Isaiah 5:13 mean?

Therefore have gone into captivity my people because [they have] no knowledge and their honorable men [are] famished and their multitude dried up with thirst
לָכֵ֛ן גָּלָ֥ה עַמִּ֖י מִבְּלִי־ דָ֑עַת וּכְבוֹדוֹ֙ מְתֵ֣י רָעָ֔ב וַהֲמוֹנ֖וֹ צִחֵ֥ה צָמָֽא

גָּלָ֥ה  have  gone  into  captivity 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: גָּלָה  
Sense: to uncover, remove.
עַמִּ֖י  my  people 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: עַם 
Sense: nation, people.
מִבְּלִי־  because  [they  have]  no 
Parse: Preposition-m, Adverb
Root: בְּלִי 
Sense: wearing out adv of negation.
דָ֑עַת  knowledge 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: דַּעַת 
Sense: knowledge.
וּכְבוֹדוֹ֙  and  their  honorable 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: כָּבֹוד  
Sense: glory, honour, glorious, abundance.
מְתֵ֣י  men 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: מֹת 
Sense: male, man.
רָעָ֔ב  [are]  famished 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: רָעָב  
Sense: famine, hunger.
וַהֲמוֹנ֖וֹ  and  their  multitude 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: הָמֹון 
Sense: (Qal) murmur, roar, crowd, abundance, tumult, sound.
צִחֵ֥ה  dried  up 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular construct
Root: צִחֶה  
Sense: parched.
צָמָֽא  with  thirst 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: צָמָא  
Sense: thirst.