The Meaning of Isaiah 51:19 Explained

Isaiah 51:19

KJV: These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee?

YLT: These two are meeting thee, who is moved for thee? Spoiling and destruction -- Famine and sword, who -- I comfort thee?

Darby: These two things are come unto thee; who will bemoan thee? desolation and destruction, and famine and sword: how shall I comfort thee?

ASV: These two things are befallen thee, who shall bemoan thee? desolation and destruction, and the famine and the sword; how shall I comfort thee?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

These two  [things] are come  unto thee; who shall be sorry  for thee? desolation,  and destruction,  and the famine,  and the sword:  by whom shall I comfort  thee? 

What does Isaiah 51:19 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Widowhood and childlessness had befallen Israel (cf. Isaiah 47:9), and there were none to mourn for her. Furthermore, devastation, destruction, famine, and the sword had overtaken her. Since she deserved her punishment, the Lord could not comfort her as He could have if she had been an innocent victim.

Context Summary

Isaiah 51:12-23 - "the Captive Exile Shall Be Loosed"
During the Sepoy mutiny in India, when a number of English men and women were shut up in a quarter of Cawnpore, expecting a terrible death by assault or slow starvation, a torn page of the Bible, containing this passage, was found on the street pavement and was of unspeakable comfort. Oh, the blessedness of appropriating Isaiah 51:16! See Isaiah 49:7.
We are too apt to forget that God pleads the cause of His people, even when they have sinned and have reduced themselves to sore straits, Isaiah 51:17 and Isaiah 51:22. We think more of the earth than of the over-arching skies; of the fading grass than of the tree of Life; of man than of God. The near obscures the distant, and the flaring earth lights, the shine of the stars! Root yourself in God! Think of Him who sits at the right hand of the throne, the seat of resistless, ceaseless energy! Believe that God has placed Himself between you and all enemies and circumstances which threaten. To fear all day is impossible in face of these paragraphs. [source]

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 51

1  An exhortation after the pattern of Abraham, to trust in Christ
3  By reason of his comfortable promises,
4  Of his righteous salvation
7  And man's mortality
9  Christ by his sanctified arm defends his from the fear of man
17  He bewails the afflictions of Jerusalem
21  And promises deliverance

What do the individual words in Isaiah 51:19 mean?

Two [things] Those have come to you who will be sorry for you Desolation and destruction and famine and sword [By] whom will I comfort you
שְׁתַּ֤יִם הֵ֙נָּה֙ קֹֽרְאֹתַ֔יִךְ מִ֖י יָנ֣וּד לָ֑ךְ הַשֹּׁ֧ד וְהַשֶּׁ֛בֶר וְהָרָעָ֥ב וְהַחֶ֖רֶב מִ֥י אֲנַחֲמֵֽךְ

שְׁתַּ֤יִם  Two  [things] 
Parse: Number, fd
Root: שְׁנַיִם  
Sense: two.
הֵ֙נָּה֙  Those 
Parse: Pronoun, third person feminine plural
Root: הֵנָּה  
Sense: they, these, the same, who.
קֹֽרְאֹתַ֔יִךְ  have  come  to  you 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, feminine plural construct, second person feminine singular
Root: קָרָא  
Sense: to encounter, befall, meet.
יָנ֣וּד  will  be  sorry 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: נוּד  
Sense: to shake, waver, wander, move to and fro, flutter, show grief, have compassion on.
לָ֑ךְ  for  you 
Parse: Preposition, second person feminine singular
הַשֹּׁ֧ד  Desolation 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: שֹׁד  
Sense: havoc, violence, destruction, devastation, ruin.
וְהַשֶּׁ֛בֶר  and  destruction 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: שֶׁבֶר 
Sense: breaking, fracture, crushing, breach, crash, ruin, shattering.
וְהָרָעָ֥ב  and  famine 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: רָעָב  
Sense: famine, hunger.
וְהַחֶ֖רֶב  and  sword 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: חֶרֶב  
Sense: sword, knife.
מִ֥י  [By]  whom 
Parse: Interrogative
Root: מִי  
Sense: who?, whose?, whom?, would that, whoever, whosoever.
אֲנַחֲמֵֽךְ  will  I  comfort  you 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperfect, first person common singular, second person feminine singular
Root: נָחַם  
Sense: to be sorry, console oneself, repent, regret, comfort, be comforted.