Isaiah 1 · Verse 4

Isaiah 1:4

Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.
Isaiah 1:4, King James Version

Isaiah 1:4 in other translations

BSBAlas, O sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children of depravity! They have forsaken the LORD; they have despised the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on Him.
WEBAh sinful nation, a people loaded with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the LORD. They have despised the Holy One of Israel. They are estranged and backward.
ASVAh sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children that deal corruptly! they have forsaken Jehovah, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are estranged and gone backward.
YLTAh, sinning nation, a people heavy with iniquity, A seed of evil doers, sons--corrupters! They have forsaken Jehovah, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have gone away backward.
DARBYAh sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that corrupt themselves! They have forsaken Jehovah; they have despised the Holy One of Israel; they are turned away backward.
BBEO nation full of sin, a people weighted down with crime, a generation of evil-doers, false-hearted children: they have gone away from the Lord, they have no respect for the Holy One of Israel, their hearts are turned back from him.
WebsterAh sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger, they are gone away backward.

What does Isaiah 1:4 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
4. people--the peculiar designation of God's elect nation (Ho 1:10), that they should be "laden with iniquity" is therefore the more monstrous. Sin is a load (Psa 38:4; Mt 11:28). seed--another appellation of God's elect (Ge 12:7; Jr 2:21), designed to be a "holy seed" (Is 6:13), but, awful to say, "evildoers!" children--by adoption (Ho 11:1), yet "evildoers"; not only so, but "corrupters" of others (Ge 6:12); the climax. So "nation--people--seed children." provoked--literally, "despised," namely, so as to provoke (Pr 1:30, 31). Holy One of Israel--the peculiar heinousness of their sin, that it was against their God (Am 3:2). gone ... backward--literally, "estranged" (Psa 58:3).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 4 Ah sinful nation "Degenerate" - Five MSS., one of them ancient, read משחתים moschathim, without the first י yod, in hophal corrupted, not corrupters. See the same word in the same form, and in the same sense, Pro 25:26. Are corrupters "Are estranged" - Thirty-two MSS., five ancient, and two editions, read נזורו nazoru; which reading determines the word to be from the root זור zur, to alienate, not from נזר nazar, to separate; so Kimchi understands it. See also Annotat. in Noldium, 68. They are gone away backward "They have turned their backs upon him" - So Kimchi explains it:" they have turned unto him the back and not the face." See Jer 2:27; Jer 7:24. I have been forced to render this line paraphrastically; as the verbal translation, "they are estranged backward," would have been unintelligible.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 1:1-9

The corruptions prevailing among the Jews. (Is. 1:1-9) Severe censures. (Is. 1:10-15) Exhortations to repentance. (Is. 1:16-20) The state of Judah is lamented; with gracious promises of the gospel times. (Is. 1:21-31) Verses 1-9 Isaiah signifies, "The salvation of the Lord;" a very suitable name for this prophet, who prophesies so much of Jesus the Saviour, and his salvation. God's professing people did not know or…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 1:1-9 →

Isaiah 1:4 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ה֣וֹי\׀Howoe to!H1945
גּ֣וֹיGoya nationH1471
חֹטֵ֗אcho.Te'[which] sinsH2398
עַ֚ם'ama peopleH5971
כֶּ֣בֶדKe.vedheavy ofH3515
עָוֹ֔ן'a.Voniniquity ofH5771
זֶ֣רַעZe.ra'springH2233
מְרֵעִ֔יםme.re.'Im[who] do evilH7489
בָּנִ֖יםba.NimchildrenH1121
מַשְׁחִיתִ֑יםmash.chi.Tim[who] behave corruptlyH7843
עָזְב֣וּ'a.ze.Vuthey have forsakenH5800
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
יְהוָ֗הYah.wehYahwehH3068
נִֽאֲצ֛וּni.'a.Tzuthey have spurnedH5006
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
קְד֥וֹשׁke.Do.osh[the] holy [one] ofH6918
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לYis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478
נָזֹ֥רוּna.Zo.ruthey have become estrangedH2114
אָחֽוֹר\׃'a.Chorback partH268

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Isaiah 1:4

  • Isaiah 5:24

    Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

  • Jeremiah 2:17

    Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, when he led thee by the way?

  • Jeremiah 2:13

    For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

  • Romans 8:7

    Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

  • Isaiah 5:19

    That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!

  • Jeremiah 7:19

    Do they provoke me to anger? saith the Lord: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?

  • Matthew 3:7

    But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

  • Jeremiah 2:19

    Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts.

  • Acts 7:51-52

    Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:

  • Isaiah 29:19

    The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

  • Isaiah 3:8

    For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory.

  • Isaiah 37:23

    Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Ah sinful.
23; 10:6; 30:9; Ge 13:13; Mt 11:28; Ac 7:51,52; Re 18:5
laden with iniquity. Heb. of heaviness. a seed.
57:3,4; Nu 32:14; Ps 78:8; Jer 7:26; 16:11,12; Mt 3:7; 23:33
children.
Jer 2:33; Eze 16:33
forsaken.
De 29:25; 31:16; Jud 10:10; Jer 2:13,17,19
provoked.
3:8; 65:3; De 32:19; Ps 78:40; Jer 7:19; 1Co 10:22
the Holy.
5:19,24; 12:6; 29:19; 30:11,12,15; 37:23; 41:14,16,20; Ps 89:18
Jer 50:29; 51:5
gone away backward. Heb. alienated, or separated.
Ps 58:3; Jer 2:5,31; Ro 8:7; Col 1:24

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Isaiah 1:3

    The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.

  • Isaiah 1:4

    Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

  • Isaiah 1:5

    Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.

Read all of Isaiah 1

Isaiah 1:4 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		¡Oh gente pecadora, pueblo cargado de maldad, generación de malignos, hijos depravados! Dejaron á Jehová, provocaron á ira al Santo de Israel, tornáronse atrás.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Ha! nation pécheresse, peuple chargé d’iniquité, race de gens qui font le mal, fils qui se corrompent! Ils ont abandonné l’ Éternel, ils ont méprisé le Saint d’Israël; ils se sont retirés en arrière.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Wehe der sündigen Nation, dem Volke, belastet mit Ungerechtigkeit, dem Samen der Übeltäter, den verderbt handelnden Kindern! Sie haben Jehova verlassen, haben den Heiligen Israels verschmäht, sind rückwärts gewichen. -
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Væ genti peccatrici, populo gravi iniquitate, semini nequam, filiis sceleratis! dereliquerunt Dominum; blasphemaverunt Sanctum Israël; abalienati sunt retrorsum.