Isaiah 51:19

19 Nothing but trouble has come to you. You have been wiped out and destroyed. And you have suffered hunger and war. No one feels sorry for you. No one can comfort you.

Isaiah 51:19 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 51:19

These two things are come unto thee
Affliction from the hand of God, though by means of enemies, and no friends to help, support, and comfort, as before hinted: or else this respects what follows, after it is said, who shall be sorry for thee?
lament or bemoan thee? they of the earth will rejoice and be glad, and others will not dare to show any concern outwardly, whatever inward grief may be in their breasts, ( Revelation 11:10 ) , desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword;
which may be the two things before mentioned, for though there are four words, they are reducible to two things, desolation, which is the sword, and by it, and destruction, which is the famine, and comes by that, as Kimchi observes: or the words may be rendered thus, "desolation, and destruction, even the famine and the sword"; so that there is no need of making these things four, and of considering them as distinct from the other two, as the Targum makes them, which paraphrases the whole thus,

``two tribulations come upon thee, O Jerusalem, thou canst not arise; when four shall come upon thee, spoiling and breach, and the famine and the sword, there shall be none to comfort thee but I.''

All this was literally true of Jerusalem, both at the destruction of it by the Chaldeans and by the Romans, and will be mystically true of the church at the slaying of the witnesses by the sword of antichrist; when there will be a famine, not of bread, nor of water, but of hearing the word of the Lord; and which will bring great devastation and desolation on the interest of Christ: by whom shall I comfort thee?
there being no ministry of the word, nor administration of the ordinances, the usual means of comfort, the witnesses being slain; see ( Lamentations 1:9 Lamentations 1:16 Lamentations 1:21 ) ( 2:13 ) .

Isaiah 51:19 In-Context

17 Wake up, Jerusalem! Wake up! Get up! The LORD has handed you the cup of his burning anger. And you have drunk from it. That cup makes men unsteady on their feet. And you have drunk from it to the very last drop.

18 None of the children who were born to you are left to guide you. None of the children you brought up are left to lead you by the hand.

19 Nothing but trouble has come to you. You have been wiped out and destroyed. And you have suffered hunger and war. No one feels sorry for you. No one can comfort you.

20 Your children have fainted. They lie helpless at every street corner. They are like antelope that have been caught in a net. They have felt the full force of the LORD's burning anger. Jerusalem, your God had to warn them strongly.

21 So listen to me, you suffering people of Jerusalem. You have been made drunk, but not by drinking wine.