Isaiah 29 · Verse 9

Isaiah 29:9

Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
Isaiah 29:9, King James Version

Isaiah 29:9 in other translations

BSBStop and be astonished; blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not from strong drink.
WEBPause and wonder! Blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
ASVTarry ye and wonder; take your pleasure and be blind: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
YLTTarry and wonder, look ye, yea, look, Be drunk, and not with wine, Stagger, and not with strong drink.
DARBYBe astounded and astonished, blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
BBEBe surprised and full of wonder; let your eyes be covered and be blind: be overcome, but not with wine; go with uncertain steps, but not because of strong drink.
WebsterStay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.

What does Isaiah 29:9 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
9. Stay--rather, "Be astounded"; expressing the stupid and amazed incredulity with which the Jews received Isaiah's announcement. wonder--The second imperative, as often (Is 8:9), is a threat; the first is a simple declaration of a fact, "Be astounded, since you choose to be so, at the prophecy, soon you will be amazed at the sight of the actual event" [Maurer]. cry ... out ... cry--rather, "Be ye blinded (since you choose to be so, though the light shines all round you), and soon ye shall be blinded" in good earnest to your sorrow [Maurer], (Is 6:9, 10). not with wine--but with spiritual paralysis (Is 51:17, 21). ye ... they--The change from speaking to, to speaking of them, intimates that the prophet turns away from them to a greater distance, because of their stupid unbelief.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 9 Stay yourselves, and wonder - התמהמהו hithmahmehu, go on what-what-whatting, in a state of mental indetermination, till the overflowing scourge take you away. See the note on Psa 119:60 (note). They are drunken, but not with wine - See note on Isa 51:21.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 29:9-16
The security of sinners in sinful ways, is cause for lamentation and wonder. The learned men, through prejudice, said that the Divine prophecies were obscure; and the poor urged their want of learning. The Bible is a sealed book to every man, learned or unlearned, till he begins to study it with a simple heart and a teachable spirit, that he may thence learn the truth and the will of God. To worship God, is to approach him. And if the heart be full of his love and fear, out of the abundance of it the mouth will speak; but there are many whose religion is lip-labour only. When they pretend to be speaking to God, they are thinking of a thousand foolish things. They worship the God of Israel according to their own devices. Numbers are only formal in worship. And their religion is only to comply with custom, and to serve their own interest. But the wanderings of mind, and defects in devotion, which are the believer's burden, are very different from the withdrawing of the heart from God, so severely blamed. And those who make religion no more than a pretence, to serve a turn, deceive themselves. And as those that quarrel with God, so those that think to conceal themselves from him, in effect charge him with folly. But all their perverse conduct shall be entirely done away.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Isaiah 29:9 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.

הִתְמַהְמְה֣וּhit.mah.me.HudelayH4102
וּתְמָ֔הוּu.te.Ma.huand be astoundedH8539
הִשְׁתַּֽעַשְׁע֖וּhish.ta.'ash.'Ublind yourselvesH8173
וָשֹׁ֑עוּva.Sho.'uand be blindH8173
שָֽׁכְר֣וּsha.khe.Rupeople have become drunkH7937
וְלֹא\־ve.lo'-and notH3808
יַ֔יִןYa.yinwineH3196
נָע֖וּna.'Upeople have staggeredH5128
וְלֹ֥אve.Lo'and notH3808
שֵׁכָֽר\׃she.Kharstrong drinkH7941

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

Cross references for Isaiah 29:9

  • Isaiah 51:21-22

    Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine: Thus saith thy Lord the Lord, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again:

  • Revelation 17:6

    And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

  • Isaiah 19:14

    The Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.

  • Isaiah 33:13-14

    Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might. The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?

  • Isaiah 49:26

    And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

  • Isaiah 28:7-8

    But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.

  • Mark 14:41

    And he cometh the third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: it is enough, the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

  • Jeremiah 51:7

    Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.

  • Acts 13:40-41

    Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets; Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.

  • Jeremiah 25:27

    Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.

  • Lamentations 4:21

    Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked.

  • Isaiah 1:2

    Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
and wonder.
1:2; 33:13,14; Jer 2:12; Hab 1:5; Ac 13:40,41; Re 17:6
cry ye out, and cry. or, take your pleasure and riot.
22:12,13; Mt 26:45; Mr 14:41
they are.
10; 19:14; 28:7,8; 49:26; 51:21,22; Jer 23:9; 25:27; 51:7; La 4:21

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

Context

  • Isaiah 29:8

    It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.

  • Isaiah 29:9

    Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.

  • Isaiah 29:10

    For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.

Read all of Isaiah 29

Isaiah 29:9 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Deteneos y maravillaos; ofuscaos y cegad; embriagaos, y no de vino; titubead, y no de sidra.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Soyez étonnés et soyez stupéfaits! aveuglez-vous et soyez aveugles! Ils sont enivrés, mais non de vin; ils chancellent, mais non par la boisson forte.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Stutzet und staunet! verblendet euch und erblindet! Sie sind trunken, doch nicht von Wein; sie schwanken, doch nicht von starkem Getränk.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Obstupescite et admiramini; fluctuate et vacillate; inebriamini, et non a vino; movemini, et non ab ebrietate.