Isaiah 59 11

Isaiah 59:11 kjv

We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.

Isaiah 59:11 nkjv

We all growl like bears, And moan sadly like doves; We look for justice, but there is none; For salvation, but it is far from us.

Isaiah 59:11 niv

We all growl like bears; we moan mournfully like doves. We look for justice, but find none; for deliverance, but it is far away.

Isaiah 59:11 esv

We all growl like bears; we moan and moan like doves; we hope for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us.

Isaiah 59:11 nlt

We growl like hungry bears;
we moan like mournful doves.
We look for justice, but it never comes.
We look for rescue, but it is far away from us.

Isaiah 59 verses

Isaiah 59 11 Meaning

Isaiah 59:11 is a poignant lament and confession from the people of Israel, articulating their profound spiritual blindness, confusion, and utter helplessness. As a consequence of their widespread iniquities (as detailed in prior verses), they confess their inability to find the right path, grasp divine truth, or attain justice, describing their futile efforts as groping blindly in broad daylight and stumbling as if in deepest night. This spiritual darkness leads them to a state akin to being spiritually dead and desolate, underscoring the tragic impact of their separation from God.

Isaiah 59 11 Context

Isaiah chapter 59 follows a segment (chapters 56-58) that critiques Israel's false religiosity and hypocrisy, contrasting their outward observances with their inward injustice and sin. Chapter 59 begins by clearly stating that God's power and ability to save are not diminished; rather, it is the people's "iniquities" (v. 1-2) that have separated them from God. Verses 3-8 meticulously detail the widespread sin, including bloodshed, injustice, deceit, and violence, portraying a society steeped in moral decay. Verse 9 then marks a turning point as the people, recognizing the consequences of their actions, begin a corporate lament and confession, admitting that justice and salvation are far from them because of their sins. Verse 11, specifically, illustrates their lived experience of this spiritual darkness and helplessness, graphically describing the personal impact of their communal sin. This profound confession sets the stage for God's ultimate response in the latter part of the chapter, where He observes their plight and intervenes directly because "there was no man" (v. 15-16) to mediate or act justly.

Isaiah 59 11 Word analysis

• "We grope": Hebrew mᵉgaššēš (מְגַשְׁשִׁ֣ים). This verb describes a tactile, uncertain, and fumbling search due to a lack of visual input. It implies a desperate, aimless endeavor to navigate, exploring with hands because the eyes are useless. It conveys spiritual bewilderment and an inability to find a clear path forward in matters of justice or truth.
• "for the wall": Represents insurmountable barriers or obstacles, indicating a confinement or inability to find an exit or discern the right direction. It illustrates the frustration of reaching out but only encountering limits, not a clear way.
• "like the blind": Hebrew kāiwwerîm` (כַּעִוְרִ֖ים). This direct simile emphatically highlights a state of complete visual impairment. Spiritually, it signifies a total lack of discernment, understanding, and insight into God's moral standards or divine truth.
• "we grope as if we had no eyes": This is a powerful, almost redundant, parallelism that intensifies the previous statement. It emphasizes the completeness of their sightlessness – not merely impaired vision, but the effective absence of the faculty of sight itself. It underscores profound spiritual non-perception.
• "we stumble": Hebrew nikaššelāh (נִכָּשְׁלָ֣ה). This verb means to trip, totter, or fall. In a spiritual and moral context, it indicates failure in action, deviation from a righteous path, or making errors due to an absence of divine guidance or inner moral light.
• "at noon day": Hebrew baṣṣāhŏrāyim (בַּצָּהֳרַ֖יִם). Refers to the brightest part of the day, when seeing should be effortless and vision clearest. This striking detail highlights the unnatural and profound severity of their spiritual blindness; their confusion and inability to discern truth persist even when "light" (truth, divine revelation) should be readily available. It signifies that their problem is internal, not external.
• "as in the night": Hebrew kallāyelâ (כַּלָּֽיְלָה). A stark contrast to "noon day," creating a vivid paradox. It means their experience of disorientation and lack of insight is as absolute and disorienting as total physical darkness, even under circumstances where clarity is expected.
• "we are in desolate places": Hebrew bāašmannîm` (בָּאַשְׁמַנִּ֥ים). While sometimes debated (e.g., "among strong ones" in some older interpretations), the prevailing scholarly consensus and contextual fit point to places that are barren, wasted, ruined, or devoid of life. This describes their spiritual state as empty, unproductive, lacking God's blessings, and the fruit of righteousness, depicting a landscape of spiritual barrenness.
• "as dead men": Hebrew kammētîm (כַּמֵּתִֽים). Signifies a state of spiritual lifelessness. They are without spiritual vitality, insensitive to the presence of God, unresponsive to divine calling, and incapable of true spiritual function or flourishing. It speaks of a deep alienation from the source of life.

Words-group analysis:

• "We grope for the wall like the blind; we grope as if we had no eyes": This double and intense portrayal of blindness serves to underscore the utter inability of the people to perceive spiritual truth, find justice, or discern God's will on their own. Their every effort is rendered futile, limited to a tactile, desperate search that constantly encounters frustration, vividly depicting spiritual bewilderment.
• "we stumble at noon day as in the night": This powerful paradox powerfully conveys the profoundness of their spiritual darkness. Despite the presence of divine revelation or moral clarity that should illuminate their path ("noon day"), they are incapable of acting rightly or understanding truth, tripping as if in absolute obscurity ("night"). Their moral failures and errors stem not from a lack of external opportunity for light, but from a fundamental internal inability to see or respond to it.
• "we are in desolate places as dead men": This phrase encapsulates the grim spiritual outcome of their collective sin and blindness. It illustrates their spiritual condition as one of profound barrenness and lifelessness – isolated from God, devoid of hope, and spiritually inert. They exist in a void, cut off from the vibrant life and blessing intended by their Creator, suffering a self-inflicted spiritual death.

Isaiah 59 11 Bonus section

The collective "we" throughout Isaiah 59:9-15a underscores a shared culpability and a communal experience of spiritual suffering, demonstrating that sin's effects are far-reaching within a society. The intense imagery of confusion and powerlessness in verse 11 highlights the absolute chasm created by humanity's sinfulness and God's perfect justice, building a profound sense of desperation. This deep lament sets a crucial theological stage for the understanding of redemptive history: it emphasizes that salvation cannot arise from human insight, effort, or inherent goodness, but must come as an unprompted act of divine grace and power. This deep cry of desperation from the people directly precedes and undergirds the climactic declaration of God's personal observation and direct intervention, where "His own arm brought Him salvation" (Isa 59:16). Thus, this verse contributes to the foundational understanding of the absolute necessity for a divinely initiated act of salvation, pointing to a need only a divine Savior could fulfill.

Isaiah 59 11 Commentary

Isaiah 59:11 serves as a stark, collective confession revealing the deep spiritual plight of Israel, a direct result of their systemic iniquity. The vivid imagery employed – groping blindly even at midday, stumbling as if in darkness – powerfully communicates their complete spiritual confusion and moral impotence despite having access to divine law and prophecy. This inability to discern truth or act righteously is self-inflicted; it's not a failure of God's guidance but of their own will. This profound spiritual blindness leads directly to an existential state of desolation, rendering them metaphorically "dead men," utterly disconnected from the source of life, joy, and justice. The verse not only expresses their despair but also implicitly acknowledges their profound need for a divine intervention, as their own efforts to find the way or heal themselves are utterly futile.

• Example 1: A person consistently engaging in dishonest business practices, despite knowing biblical principles of integrity, finds their moral compass utterly distorted, metaphorically "groping" in their decisions and finding themselves in "desolate places" of reputation and trust.
• Example 2: A church community that neglects acts of social justice and truth-telling, even with the Word of God readily available, may find itself spiritually "stumbling at noon day," becoming effectively "dead men" to its mission and relevance.