Isaiah 2 · Verse 6

Isaiah 2:6

Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.

Isaiah 2:6, King James Version

Isaiah 2:6 in other translations

BSB	For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with influences from the east; they are soothsayers like the Philistines; they strike hands with the children of foreigners.
WEB	For you have forsaken your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled from the east, with those who practice divination like the Philistines, and they clasp hands with the children of foreigners.
ASV	For thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they are filled with customs from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they strike hands with the children of foreigners.
YLT	For Thou hast left Thy people, the house of Jacob. For they have been filled from the east, And are sorcerers like the Philistines, And with the children of strangers strike hands.
DARBY	For thou hast cast off thy people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with what comes from the east, and use auguries like the Philistines, and ally themselves with the children of foreigners.
BBE	For you, O Lord, have given up your people, the family of Jacob, because they are full of the evil ways of the east, and make use of secret arts like the Philistines, and are friends with the children of strange countries.
Webster	Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they are replenished from the east, and are sooth-sayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.

What does Isaiah 2:6 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

6. Therefore--rather, "For": reasons why there is the more need of the exhortation in Is 2:5. thou--transition to Jehovah: such rapid transitions are natural, when the mind is full of a subject. replenished--rather, filled, namely, with the superstitions of the East, Syria, and Chaldea. soothsayers--forbidden (De 18:10-14). Philistines--southwest of Palestine: antithesis to "the east." please themselves--rather, join hands with, that is, enter into alliances, matrimonial and national: forbidden (Ex 23:32; Ne 13:23, &c.).

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 6 They be replenished "And they multiply" - Seven MSS. and one edition, for ישפיקו yaspiku, read ישפיחו yaspichu, "and have joined themselves to the children of strangers;" that is, in marriage or worship. - Dr. Jubb. So Vulg., adhaeserunt. Compare Isa 14:1. But the very learned professor Chevalier Michaelis has explained the word יספחו yesupachu, Job 30:7, (German translation, note on the place), in another manner; which perfectly well agrees with that place, and perhaps will be found to give as good a sense here. ספיח saphiach, the noun, means corn springing up, not from the seed regularly sown on cultivated land, but in the untilled field, from the scattered grains of the former harvest. This, by an easy metaphor, is applied to a spurious brood of children irregularly and casually begotten. The Septuagint seem to have understood the verb here in this sense, reading it as the Vulgate seems to have done. This justifies their version, which it is hard to account for in any other manner: και τεκνα πολλα αλλοφυλα εγενηθῃ αυτοις. Compare Hos 5:7, and the Septuagint there. But instead of ובילדי ubeyaldey, "and in the children," two of Kennicott's and eight of De Rossi's MSS. have וכילדי ucheyaldey, "and as the children." And they sin impudently as the children of strangers. See De Rossi. And are soothsayers "They are filled with diviners" - Hebrews "They are filled from the east;" or "more than the east." The sentence is manifestly imperfect. The Septuagint, Vulgate, and Chaldee, seem to have read כמקדם kemikkedem; and the latter, with another word before it, signifying idols; "they are filled with idols as from of old." Houbigant, for מקדם mikkedem, reads מקסם mikkesem, as Brentius had proposed long ago. I rather think that both words together give us the true reading: מקדם mikkedem, מקסם mikkesem, "with divination from the east;" and that the first word has been by mistake omitted, from its similitude to the second.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 2:1-9

The conversion of the Gentiles, Description of the sinfulness of Israel. (Is. 2:1-9) The awful punishment of unbelievers. (Is. 2:10-22) Verses 1-9 The calling of the Gentiles, the spread of the gospel, and that far more extensive preaching of it yet to come, are foretold. Let Christians strengthen one another, and support one another. It is God who teaches his people, by his word and Spirit. Christ promotes peace…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 2:1-9 →

Isaiah 2:6 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.

כִּ֣יkiforH3588

נָטַ֗שְׁתָּהna.Tash.tahyou have abandonedH5203

עַמְּךָ֙'a.me.Khapeople yourH5971

בֵּ֣יתbeit[the] house ofH1004

יַעֲקֹ֔בya.'a.KoJacobH3290

כִּ֤יkiforH3588

מָלְאוּ֙mal.'Uthey are fullH4390

מִקֶּ֔דֶםmi.Ke.demfrom [the] eastH6924

וְעֹֽנְנִ֖יםve.'o.ne.Nimand soothsayersH6049

כַּפְּלִשְׁתִּ֑יםka.pe.lish.Timlike the PhilistinesH6430

וּבְיַלְדֵ֥יu.ve.yal.Deiand with [the] children ofH3206

נָכְרִ֖יםna.khe.RimforeignersH5237

יַשְׂפִּֽיקוּ\׃yas.Pi.kuthey clap handsH5606

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

Cross references for Isaiah 2:6

Romans 11:20
Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
Deuteronomy 18:10-14
There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God. …
2 Kings 1:2
And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, enquire of Baal–zebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease.
1 Chronicles 10:13
So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the Lord, even against the word of the Lord, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it;
Leviticus 20:6
And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.
Numbers 25:1-2
And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.
1 Kings 11:1-2
But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.
Exodus 34:16
And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods.
Isaiah 47:12-13
Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.
Jeremiah 10:2
Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
Psalms 106:35
But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.
Exodus 22:18
Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Therefore.
De 31:16,17; 2Ch 15:2; 24:20; La 5:20; Ro 11:1,2,20
from the east. or, more than the east.
Nu 23:7
and are.
8:19; 47:12,13; Ex 22:18; Le 19:31; 20:6; De 18:10-14; 1Ch 10:13
and they.
Ex 34:16; Nu 25:1,2; De 21:11-13; 1Ki 11:1,2; Ne 13:23; Ps 106:35
Jer 10:2
please themselves in. or, abound with, etc.

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

Context

Isaiah 2:5
O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Isaiah 2:6
Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.
Isaiah 2:7
Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots:

Read all of Isaiah 2

Isaiah 2:6 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Ciertamente tú has dejado tu pueblo, la casa de Jacob, porque son henchidos de oriente, y de agoreros, como los Filisteos; y en hijos ajenos descansan.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Car tu as abandonné ton peuple, la maison de Jacob, parce qu’ils sont remplis de ce qui vient de l’orient, et sont des pronostiqueurs, comme les Philistins, et s’allient avec les enfants des étrangers.
German Elberfelder 1871	Denn du hast dein Volk, das Haus Jakob, verstoßen; denn sie sind voll dessen, was vom Morgenlande kommt, und sind Zauberer gleich den Philistern, und schlagen ein mit den Kindern der Fremden.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Projecisti enim populum tuum, domum Jacob, quia repleti sunt ut olim, et augeres habuerunt ut Philisthiim, et pueris alienis adhæserunt.