The Meaning of Isaiah 24:4 Explained

Isaiah 24:4

KJV: The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.

YLT: Mourned, faded hath the land, Languished, faded hath the world, Languished have they -- the high place of the people of the land.

Darby: The land mourneth, it fadeth away; the world languisheth, it fadeth away: the haughty people of the land do languish.

ASV: The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the lofty people of the earth do languish.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

The earth  mourneth  [and] fadeth away,  the world  languisheth  [and] fadeth away,  the haughty  people  of the earth  do languish. 

What does Isaiah 24:4 Mean?

Verse Meaning

It is the people of the earth that are the objects of God"s judgment, not just the planet itself. All of humanity, even the most exalted individuals, would mourn and fade under the withering judgment of Yahweh.

Context Summary

Isaiah 24:1-13 - The Desolation Of A Guilty World
This and the three following chapters form a single prophecy, describing the calamities about to desolate the land, because the inhabitants had transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Primarily it describes the experiences of Palestine under the successive invasions from the Euphrates valley, first of Nineveh and then of Babylon. There is a mysterious connection between the condition of a man's soul and the response of surrounding nature. The very vineyards would sigh in sad accord with the prevailing misery and sin, Isaiah 24:7-9; and in the great city silence would reign in streets decimated by plague and war, Isaiah 24:10-12. Both in the Old and the New Testament the blessings of sufficiency and comfort are the fruits of holy living; whereas, sooner or later, evil overtakes wrong-doing. "Trust in the Lord and do good, so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed," is always true. [source]

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 24

1  The doleful judgments of God upon the land
13  A remnant shall joyfully praise him
16  God in his judgments shall advance his kingdom

What do the individual words in Isaiah 24:4 mean?

Mourns [and] fades away the earth languishes [and] fades away the world languish The haughty people of the earth
אָבְלָ֤ה נָֽבְלָה֙ הָאָ֔רֶץ אֻמְלְלָ֥ה נָבְלָ֖ה תֵּבֵ֑ל אֻמְלָ֖לוּ מְר֥וֹם עַם־ הָאָֽרֶץ

אָבְלָ֤ה  Mourns 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: אָבַל 
Sense: to mourn, lament.
נָֽבְלָה֙  [and]  fades  away 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: נָבֵל 
Sense: to be senseless, be foolish.
הָאָ֔רֶץ  the  earth 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
אֻמְלְלָ֥ה  languishes 
Parse: Verb, Pual, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: אָמַל 
Sense: to be weak, to droop, to languish, to be exhausted.
נָבְלָ֖ה  [and]  fades  away 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: נָבֵל 
Sense: to be senseless, be foolish.
תֵּבֵ֑ל  the  world 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: תֵּבֵל  
Sense: world.
אֻמְלָ֖לוּ  languish 
Parse: Verb, Pual, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: אָמַל 
Sense: to be weak, to droop, to languish, to be exhausted.
מְר֥וֹם  The  haughty 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: מָרֹום  
Sense: height.
עַם־  people 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: עַם 
Sense: nation, people.
הָאָֽרֶץ  of  the  earth 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.