Isaiah 29 · Verse 4

Isaiah 29:4

And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.
Isaiah 29:4, King James Version

Isaiah 29:4 in other translations

BSBYou will be brought low, you will speak from the ground, and out of the dust your words will be muffled. Your voice will be like a spirit from the ground; your speech will whisper out of the dust.
WEBYou will be brought down, and will speak out of the ground. Your speech will mumble out of the dust. Your voice will be as of one who has a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and your speech will whisper out of the dust.
ASVAnd thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust; and thy voice shall be as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.
YLTAnd thou hast been low, From the earth thou speakest, And from the dust makest thy saying low, And thy voice hath been from the earth, As one having a familiar spirit, And from the dust thy saying whisperest,
DARBYAnd thou shalt be brought low, thou shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall come low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.
BBEAnd you will be made low, and your voice will come out of the earth, and your words will be low out of the dust; and your voice will come out of the earth like that of a spirit, making bird-like noises out of the dust.
WebsterAnd thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.

What does Isaiah 29:4 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
4. Jerusalem shall be as a captive, humbled to the dust. Her voice shall come from the earth as that of the spirit-charmers or necromancers (Is 8:19), faint and shrill, as the voice of the dead was supposed to be. Ventriloquism was doubtless the trick caused to make the voice appear to come from the earth (Is 19:3). An appropriate retribution that Jerusalem, which consulted necromancers, should be made like them!

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 4 And thy speech shall be low out of the dust "And from out of the dust thou shalt utter a feeble speech" - That the souls of the dead uttered a feeble stridulous sound, very different from the natural human voice, was a popular notion among the heathens as well as among the Jews. This appears from several passages of their poets; Homer, Virgil, Horace. The pretenders to the art of necromancy, who were chiefly women, had an art of speaking with a feigned voice, so as to deceive those who applied to them, by making them believe that it was the voice of the ghost. They had a way of uttering sounds, as if they were formed, not by the organs of speech, but deep in the chest, or in the belly; and were thence called εγγαστριμυθοι, ventriloqui: they could make the voice seem to come from beneath the ground, from a distant part, in another direction, and not from themselves; the better to impose upon those who consulted them. Εξεπιτηδες το γενος τουτο τον αμυδρον ηχον επιτηδευονται, ἱνα δια την ασαφειαν της φωνης τον του ψευδους αποδιδρασκωσιν ελεγχον. Psellus De Daemonibus, apud Bochart, 1 p. 731. "These people studiously acquire, and affect on purpose, this sort of obscure sound; that by the uncertainty of the voice they may the better escape being detected in the cheat. "From these arts of the necromancers the popular notion seems to have arisen, that the ghost's voice was a weak, stridulous, almost inarticulate sort of sound, very different from the speech of the living.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 29:1-8

Judgements on Jerusalem and on its enemies. (Is. 29:1-8) The senselessness and hypocrisy of the Jews. (Is. 29:9-16) The conversion of the Gentiles, and future blessings for the Jews. (Is. 29:17-24) Verses 1-8 Ariel may signify the altar of burnt-offerings. Let Jerusalem know that outward religious services will not make men free from judgements. Hypocrites never can please God, nor make their peace with him. God had…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 29:1-8 →

Isaiah 29:4 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.

וְשָׁפַלְתְּ֙ve.sha.falTand you will become lowH8213
מֵאֶ֣רֶץme.'E.retzfrom [the] groundH776
תְּדַבֵּ֔רִיte.da.Be.riyou will speakH1696
וּמֵֽעָפָ֖רu.me.'a.Farand from [the] dustH6083
תִּשַּׁ֣חti.Shachit will be humbledH7817
אִמְרָתֵ֑ךְ'im.ra.Tekhutterance yourH565
וְֽ֠הָיָהVe.ha.yahand it will beH1961
כְּא֤וֹבke.'ovlike a necromancerH178
מֵאֶ֙רֶץ֙me.'E.retzfrom [the] groundH776
קוֹלֵ֔ךְko.Lekhvoice yourH6963
וּמֵעָפָ֖רu.me.'a.Farand from [the] dustH6083
אִמְרָתֵ֥ךְ'im.ra.Tekhutterance yourH565
תְּצַפְצֵֽף\׃te.tzaf.Tzefit will whisperH6850

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

Cross references for Isaiah 29:4

  • Isaiah 8:19

    And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?

  • Psalms 44:25

    For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth.

  • 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 51:23

    But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over.

  • Isaiah 2:11-21

    The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, …

  • Lamentations 1:9

    Her filthiness is in her skirts; she remembereth not her last end; therefore she came down wonderfully: she had no comforter. O Lord, behold my affliction: for the enemy hath magnified himself.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
thou shalt.
2:11-21; 3:8; 51:23; Ps 44:25; La 1:9
whisper. Heb. peep, or chirp.
8:19

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

Context

  • Isaiah 29:3

    And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.

  • Isaiah 29:4

    And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.

  • Isaiah 29:5

    Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.

Read all of Isaiah 29

Isaiah 29:4 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Entonces serás humillada, hablarás desde la tierra, y tu habla saldrá del polvo; y será tu voz de la tierra como de pythón, y tu habla susurrará desde el polvo.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		et, humiliée, tu parleras depuis la terre, et ta parole sortira sourdement de la poussière, et ta voix, sortant de la terre, sera comme celle d’un évocateur d’esprits; et ta parole s’élèvera de la poussière comme un murmure.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und erniedrigt wirst du aus der Erde reden, und deine Sprache wird dumpf aus dem Staube ertönen; und deine Stimme wird wie die eines Geistes aus der Erde hervorkommen, und deine Sprache wird aus dem Staube flüstern. -
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Humiliaberis, de terra loqueris, et de humo audietur eloquium tuum; et erit quasi pythonis de terra vox tua, et de humo eloquium tuum mussitabit.