Isaiah 5 · Verse 17

Isaiah 5:17

Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.
Isaiah 5:17, King James Version

Isaiah 5:17 in other translations

BSBLambs will graze as in their own pastures, and strangers will feed in the ruins of the wealthy.
WEBThen the lambs will graze as in their pasture, and strangers will eat the ruins of the rich.
ASVThen shall the lambs feed as in their pasture, and the waste places of the fat ones shall wanderers eat.
YLTAnd fed have lambs according to their leading, And waste places of the fat ones Do sojourners consume.
DARBYAnd the lambs shall feed as on their pasture, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.
BBEThen the lambs will get food as in their grass-lands, and the fat cattle will be feasting in the waste places.
WebsterThen shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.

What does Isaiah 5:17 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
17. after their manner--literally, "according to their own word," that is, at will. Otherwise, as in their own pasture [Gesenius]: so the Hebrew in Mi 2:12. The lands of the Scenite tent dwellers (Jr 35:7). Arab shepherds in the neighborhood shall roam at large, the whole of Judea being so desolate as to become a vast pasturage. waste ... fat ones--the deserted lands of the rich ("fat," Psa 22:29), then gone into captivity; "strangers," that is, nomad tribes shall make their flocks to feed on [Maurer]. Figuratively, "the lambs" are the pious, "the fat ones" the impious. So tender disciples of Jesus Christ (Joh 21:15) are called "lambs"; being meek, harmless, poor, and persecuted. Compare Eze 39:18, where the fatlings are the rich and great (1Co 1:26, 27). The "strangers" are in this view the "other sheep not of the" the Jewish "fold" (Joh 10:16), the Gentiles whom Jesus Christ shall "bring" to be partakers of the rich privileges (Ro 11:17) which the Jews ("fat ones," Eze 34. 16) fell from. Thus "after their (own) manner" will express that the Christian Church should worship God in freedom, released from legal bondage (Joh 4:23; Ga 5:1).

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 17 The lambs "And the kids" - גרים gerim, "strangers." The Septuagint read, more agreeably to the design of the prophet, כרים carim, αρνες, "the lambs." גדים gedayim, "the kids," Dr. Durell; nearer to the present reading: and so Archbishop Secker. The meaning is, their luxurious habitations shall be so entirely destroyed as to become a pasture for flocks. After their manner "Without restraint" - כדברם kedobram, secundum duetum eorum; i.e. suo ipsorum ductu; as their own will shall lead them.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 5:8-23

Here is a woe to those who set their hearts on the wealth of the world. Not that it is sinful for those who have a house and a field to purchase another; but the fault is, that they never know when they have enough. Covetousness is idolatry; and while many envy the prosperous, wretched man, the Lord denounces awful woes upon him. How applicable to many among us! God has many ways to empty the most populous cities…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 5:8-23 →

Isaiah 5:17 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.

וְרָע֥וּve.ra.'Uand they will grazeH7462
כְבָשִׂ֖יםkhe.va.SimlambsH3532
כְּדָבְרָ֑םke.da.ve.Ramlike own pasture theirH1699
וְחָרְב֥וֹתve.cha.re.Votand [the] ruins ofH2723
מֵחִ֖יםme.ChimfatlingsH4220
גָּרִ֥יםga.RimsojournersH1481
יֹאכֵֽלוּ\׃yo.Khe.luthey will eatH398

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

Cross references for Isaiah 5:17

  • Zephaniah 2:6

    And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks.

  • Zephaniah 2:14

    And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds: for he shall uncover the cedar work.

  • Isaiah 7:25

    And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle.

  • Isaiah 10:16

    Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire.

  • Psalms 17:14

    From men which are thy hand, O Lord, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.

  • Amos 4:1-3

    Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink. The Lord God hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks. And ye shall go out at the breaches, every cow at that which is before her; and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the Lord.

  • Psalms 119:70

    Their heart is as fat as grease; but I delight in thy law.

  • Isaiah 7:21-22

    And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep; And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.

  • Hosea 8:7

    For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.

  • Lamentations 5:2

    Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens.

  • Nehemiah 9:37

    And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.

  • Jeremiah 5:28

    They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
shall the lambs.
7:21,22,25; 17:2; 32:14; 40:11; 65:10; Zep 2:6,14
the waste.
10:16; De 32:15; Ps 17:10,14; 73:7; 119:70; Jer 5:28; Am 4:1-3
strangers.
1:7; De 28:33; Ne 9:37; La 5:2; Ho 8:7; Lu 21:24

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

Context

  • Isaiah 5:16

    But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.

  • Isaiah 5:17

    Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.

  • Isaiah 5:18

    Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:

Read all of Isaiah 5

Isaiah 5:17 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y los corderos serán apacentados según su costumbre; y extraños comerán las gruesas desamparadas.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et les agneaux paîtront comme dans leur pâturage, et les étrangers dévoreront les lieux désolés des hommes gras.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und Schafe werden dort weiden wie auf ihrer Trift, und Fremdlinge in den verwüsteten Fluren der Fetten sich nähren.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Et pascentur agni juxta ordinem suum, et deserta in ubertatem versa advenæ comedent.