The Meaning of Isaiah 59:2 Explained

Isaiah 59:2

KJV: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

YLT: But your iniquities have been separating Between you and your God, And your sins have hidden The Presence from you -- from hearing.

Darby: but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he doth not hear.

ASV: but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, so that he will not hear.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

But your iniquities  have separated  between  you and your God,  and your sins  have hid  [his] face  from you, that he will not hear. 

What does Isaiah 59:2 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Rather the problem was with them, not Him. It was their sins that had separated them from their holy Lord (cf. Genesis 3:6; Genesis 3:16; Jeremiah 5:2-6; Habakkuk 1:13; 1 John 1:6).
The evidence to support Isaiah"s indictment follows.

Context Summary

Isaiah 59:1-15 - Iniquities Separate From God
Israel's sins, Isaiah 59:1-8. Much of our suffering in life results from our sins, which cut off God's health and help. Let us not blame Providence, but set ourselves to discover the cause of controversy. When the law courts-the fountains of justice-are demoralized, the community is in a hopeless condition, Isaiah 59:3-4. Instead of stamping out evil in the egg, the sinful heart hatches it out, and it yields the poison of vipers, Isaiah 59:5. Ah, the hapless state of the ungodly! Their feet, and their thoughts, and their paths, are fatal to the peace of others and to their own. The way of peace can be entered only at the Cross, and maintained only by constant watchfulness. See Luke 1:79.
Israel's confession, Isaiah 59:9-15. Here the stricken people pour out their complaint before God, confessing, first, the bitterness of their sufferings and then the blackness of their sins. The roar of the hungry bear for food and the dove's mourning for her mate, Isaiah 59:11, are apt descriptions of the complaint of the penitent soul. It is a good sign when a man cannot lift up his eyes to heaven and beats upon his breast, Luke 18:13. [source]

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 59

1  Calamities are not due to lack of saving power in God, but to their own sins
16  Salvation is only of God
20  The covenant of the Redeemer

What do the individual words in Isaiah 59:2 mean?

For but your iniquities have separated you from your God and your sins have hidden [His] face from you so that He will not hear
כִּ֤י אִם־ עֲוֺנֹֽתֵיכֶם֙ הָי֣וּ מַבְדִּלִ֔ים בֵּינֵכֶ֕ם לְבֵ֖ין אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֑ם וְחַטֹּֽאותֵיכֶ֗ם הִסְתִּ֧ירוּ פָנִ֛ים מִכֶּ֖ם מִשְּׁמֽוֹעַ

עֲוֺנֹֽתֵיכֶם֙  your  iniquities 
Parse: Noun, common plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: עָוֹן  
Sense: perversity, depravity, iniquity, guilt or punishment of iniquity.
מַבְדִּלִ֔ים  separated 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Participle, masculine plural
Root: בָּדַל  
Sense: to divide, separate.
אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֑ם  your  God 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
וְחַטֹּֽאותֵיכֶ֗ם  and  your  sins 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: חַטָּאָה 
Sense: sin, sinful.
הִסְתִּ֧ירוּ  have  hidden 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: סָתַר  
Sense: to hide, conceal.
פָנִ֛ים  [His]  face 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
מִכֶּ֖ם  from  you 
Parse: Preposition, second person masculine plural
Root: מִן 
Sense: from, out of, on account of, off, on the side of, since, above, than, so that not, more than.
מִשְּׁמֽוֹעַ  so  that  He  will  not  hear 
Parse: Preposition-m, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: שָׁמַע 
Sense: to hear, listen to, obey.