Isaiah 11:4

Literal Standard Version

And He has judged the poor in righteousness, || And decided for the humble of earth in uprightness, || And has struck earth with the rod of His mouth, || And He puts the wicked to death with the breath of His lips.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
but he will judge the poor righteouslyand execute justice for the oppressed of the land.He will strike the landwith a scepter from his mouth,and he will kill the wickedwith a command from his lips.

Hebrew Names Version
but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and decide with equity for the humble of the eretz; and he shall strike the eretz with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips shall he kill the wicked.

King James Version
But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

English Standard Version
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

New American Standard Bible
But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the humble of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.

New Century Version
But he will judge the poor honestly; he will be fair in his decisions for the poor people of the land. At his command evil people will be punished, and by his words the wicked will be put to death.

Amplified Bible
But with righteousness and justice He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the downtrodden of the earth; And He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.

World English Bible
but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and decide with equity for the humble of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips shall he kill the wicked.

Geneva Bible (1587)
But with righteousnesse shall he iudge the poore, and with equitie shall he reprooue for the meeke of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lippes shall he slay the wicked.

Legacy Standard Bible
But with righteousness He will judge the poor,And decide with uprightness for the afflicted of the earth;And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,And with the breath of His lips He will put the wicked to death.

Berean Standard Bible
but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and with equity He will decide in favor of the earth's oppressed. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and slay the wicked with the breath of His lips.

Contemporary English Version
The poor and the needy will be treated with fairness and with justice. His word will be law everywhere in the land, and criminals will be put to death.

Complete Jewish Bible
but he will judge the impoverished justly; he will decide fairly for the humble of the land. He will strike the land with a rod from his mouth and slay the wicked with a breath from his lips.

Darby Translation
but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

Easy-to-Read Version
He will judge the poor fairly and honestly. He will be fair when he decides what to do for the poor of the land. If he decides people should be beaten, he will give the command, and they will be beaten. If he decides people must die, he will give the command, and those evil people will be killed. Goodness and fairness will be like a belt he wears around his waist.

George Lamsa Translation
But with justice shall he judge the poor, and reprove with uprightness for the meek of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

Good News Translation
he will judge the poor fairly and defend the rights of the helpless. At his command the people will be punished, and evil persons will die.

Lexham English Bible
But he shall judge the poor with righteousness, and he shall decide for the needy of the earth with rectitude. And he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and he shall kill the wicked person with the breath of his lips.

Literal Translation
But He shall judge the poor in righteousness, and shall decide rightly for the meek of the earth. And He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and He shall cause the wicked to die with the breath of His lip.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
but with rightousnesse shal he iudge the poore, and with holynes shal he refourme the symple of the worlde. He shal smyte ye worlde with ye staff of his mouth, & with ye breath of his mouth shal he slaye the wicked.

American Standard Version
but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

Bible in Basic English
But he will do right in the cause of the poor, and give wise decisions for those in the land who are in need; and the rod of his mouth will come down on the cruel, and with the breath of his lips he will put an end to the evil-doer.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the land; and he shall smite the land with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

King James Version (1611)
But with righteousnesse shall he iudge the poore, and reprooue with equitie, for the meeke of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rodde of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
But with righteousnesse shal he iudge the poore, and with equitie shall he refourme the simple of the worlde, and he shall smyte the worlde with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his mouth shall he slay the vngodly.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
but he shall judge the cause of the lowly, and shall reprove the lowly of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the word of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he destroy the ungodly one.

English Revised Version
but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
but he schal deme in riytfulnesse pore men, and he schal repreue in equyte, for the mylde men of erthe. And he schal smyte the lond with the yerde of his mouth, and bi the spirit of his lippis he schal sle the wickid man.

Update Bible Version
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.

Webster's Bible Translation
But with righteousness will he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he will smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips will he slay the wicked.

New English Translation
He will treat the poor fairly, and make right decisions for the downtrodden of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and order the wicked to be executed.

New King James Version
But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.

New Living Translation
He will give justice to the poor and make fair decisions for the exploited. The earth will shake at the force of his word, and one breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked.

New Life Bible
But He will judge the poor in a right and good way. He will be fair in what He decides for the people of the earth who have much trouble. He will punish the earth with His powerful mouth, and kill the sinful with the breath of His lips.

New Revised Standard
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
But he will judge with righteousness! them who are poor, And decide with equity! for the oppressed of the land, - And he will smite the land With the sceptre of his mouth, And with the breath of his lips, will he slay the lawless one;

Douay-Rheims Bible
But he shall judge the poor with justice, and shall reprove with equity the meek of the earth: and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.

Revised Standard Version
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.

Young's Literal Translation
And he hath judged in righteousness the poor, And decided in uprightness for the humble of earth, And hath smitten earth with the rod of his mouth, And with the breath of his lips he putteth the wicked to death.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.

Contextual Overview

¹And a Rod has come out from the stock of Jesse, || And a Branch is fruitful from his roots. ²The Spirit of YHWH has rested on Him, || The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, || The Spirit of counsel and might, || The Spirit of knowledge and fear of YHWH. ³To refresh Him in the fear of YHWH, || And He does not judge by the sight of His eyes, || Nor decides by the hearing of His ears. ⁴And He has judged the poor in righteousness, || And decided for the humble of earth in uprightness, || And has struck earth with the rod of His mouth, || And He puts the wicked to death with the breath of His lips.⁵And righteousness has been the girdle of His loins, || And faithfulness—the girdle of His reins. ⁶"And a wolf has sojourned with a lamb, || And a leopard lies down with a kid, || And calf, and young lion, and fatling [are] together, || And a little youth is leader over them. ⁷And cow and bear feed, || Together their young ones lie down, || And a lion eats straw as an ox. ⁸And a suckling has played by the hole of a cobra, || And on the den of a viper || The weaned one has put his hand. ⁹They do no evil, nor destroy in all My holy mountain, || For the earth has been full with the knowledge of YHWH, || As the waters are covering the sea."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

But with: Isaiah 32:1, 2 Samuel 8:15, 2 Samuel 23:2-4, 1 Kings 10:8, 1 Kings 10:9, Psalms 45:6, Psalms 45:7, Psalms 72:1-4, Psalms 72:12-14, Psalms 82:2-4, Jeremiah 23:5, Jeremiah 23:6, Jeremiah 33:15, Matthew 11:5, Revelation 19:11

reprove: or, argue, Isaiah 1:17, Proverbs 31:8, Proverbs 31:9, Jeremiah 5:28

for the meek: Isaiah 29:19, Isaiah 61:1, Zephaniah 2:3, Matthew 5:5, 2 Corinthians 10:1, Galatians 5:23, Titus 3:2, James 3:13

and he shall: Job 4:9, Psalms 2:9, Psalms 110:2, Malachi 4:6, 2 Thessalonians 2:8, Revelation 1:16, Revelation 2:16, Revelation 19:15

with the breath: Isaiah 30:33, Psalms 18:8, Acts 9:1

Reciprocal: Exodus 4:2 - a rod Exodus 15:8 - blast Leviticus 13:6 - pronounce Deuteronomy 13:14 - General Deuteronomy 25:1 - General 2 Samuel 14:8 - I will give 2 Samuel 23:3 - must be just 1 Kings 19:17 - Elisha slay 2 Kings 19:7 - a blast Job 15:30 - by the breath Job 36:6 - giveth Psalms 2:5 - Then Psalms 9:4 - right Psalms 9:8 - General Psalms 10:18 - judge Psalms 18:15 - O Lord Psalms 25:9 - meek Psalms 50:4 - judge Psalms 72:4 - He shall judge Psalms 76:9 - When Psalms 139:19 - Surely Psalms 140:12 - the Lord Proverbs 29:14 - king Isaiah 2:4 - And he Isaiah 14:32 - and the Isaiah 25:4 - thou hast Isaiah 30:28 - his breath Isaiah 40:24 - he shall also Isaiah 42:3 - he shall Isaiah 49:2 - he hath made Ezekiel 46:18 - the prince Hosea 6:5 - I have Zechariah 11:7 - General Luke 12:49 - come John 5:30 - I judge John 7:24 - General Hebrews 4:12 - sharper 1 Peter 3:4 - a meek Revelation 2:12 - which hath Revelation 11:5 - fire

Cross-References

Genesis 6:4
The giants were in the earth in those days, and even afterward, when sons of God come in to the daughters of men, and they have borne to them those who [were] the mighty from of old, the men of renown.

Genesis 11:8
And YHWH scatters them from there over the face of all the earth, and they cease to build the city;

Genesis 11:9
therefore [one] has called its name Babel, for there YHWH has confused the language of all the earth, and from there YHWH has scattered them over the face of all the earth.

Genesis 11:11
And Shem lives after his begetting Arphaxad five hundred years, and begets sons and daughters.

Genesis 11:13
And Arphaxad lives after his begetting Salah four hundred and three years [[or four hundred and thirty years]], and begets sons and daughters.

Deuteronomy 1:28
to where are we going up? Our brothers have melted our heart, saying, [The] people [are] greater and taller than we; [the] cities [are] great and fortified up to the heavens, and we have also seen sons of Anakim there.

Deuteronomy 4:27
and YHWH has scattered you among the peoples, and you have been left few in number among the nations to where YHWH leads you,

Deuteronomy 9:1
"Hear, O Israel: You are passing over the Jordan today to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to the heavens,

2 Samuel 8:13
And David makes a name in his turning back from his striking Aram in the Valley of Salt—eighteen thousand;

Psalms 92:9
For behold, Your enemies, O YHWH, || For behold, Your enemies perish, || All workers of iniquity separate themselves.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But with righteousness shall he judge the poor,.... The poor sinner, that is sensible of his spiritual poverty, and comes and acknowledges his sins and transgressions, and prays for pardoning grace and mercy, and hungers and thirsts after righteousness; such Christ justifies with his own righteousness, acquits and discharges them from all sin and condemnation, as also protects and defends them against all their enemies and oppressors:

and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth; that is, shall take the part of the meek, the lowly, and the humble, who are under a sense of their sins and unworthiness, apply to him for grace, righteousness, pardon, and eternal life; and for their sakes reprove wicked men that would distress and crush them; and in a just and equitable manner, in a way of righteous retaliation, render tribulation to them that trouble them:

and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth: that is, either he shall smite the consciences of earthly and unregenerate men, by the ministration of his word, the rod of his strength, so that they shall be convinced of sin, and humbled for it, and be brought to repentance towards God, and faith in himself; or he shall smite the nations of the earth, the antichristian states, and destroy them,

Revelation 19:15

and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked; either by the words of his mouth, as before; see Hosea 6:5 so that they become dead men in their own apprehensions, have no hope of life and salvation by their own works, see themselves dead in law, and liable to eternal death and damnation; or this is to be understood of the destruction of the wicked at the last day, by a sentence of condemnation pronounced upon them by Christ; and particularly of antichrist, the wicked and lawless one, the man of sin and son of perdition, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and destroy with the brightness of his coming, 2 Thessalonians 2:4 in which place the apostle seems to have respect to this; nor is the Targum foreign from the sense given, which is

"he shall smite the sinners of the earth with the word of his mouth, and with the speech of his lips he shall slay the wicked Armillus.''

Armillus seems to be a name hammered out of Romulus, and designs the Romish antichrist; for elsewhere the Jews expressly say, that Armillus is he whom the nations call antichrist z; by whom they suppose that Messiah, the son of Joseph shall be slain, and afterwards he himself shall be slain by Messiah the son of David; or it is the same with

ερημολαος, a destroyer of the people, a name that well agrees with antichrist; see Revelation 11:18. This whole, verse is applied to the Messiah, both by ancient and modern Jews a.

z Abkath Rocel, p. 52. Ed. Huls. Vid. Buxtorf. Lex. Talmud, p. 221, 222, 223, 224. a Shirhashirim. Rabba, fol. 22. 3. Midrash Ruth, fol. 33. 2. Pesikta apud Yalkut Simeoni, par. 2. fol. 66. 4. Nachman. Disputat. cum Fratre Paulo, p, 41.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Shall he judge the poor - That is, he shall see that impartial justice is done them; he shall not take part with the rich against the poor, but shall show that he is the friend of justice. This is the quality of a just and upright magistrate, and this character the Lord Jesus everywhere evinced. He chose his disciples from among the poor; he condescended to be their companion and friend; he provided for their needs; and he pronounced their condition blessed; Matthew 5:3. There may be a reference here to the poor in spirit - the humble, the penitent; but the main idea is, that he would not be influenced by any undue regard for the higher ranks of life, but would be the friend and patron of the poor.

And reprove - הוכיח hô̂kiyach. And judge, decide, or argue for; that is, he shall be their friend and their impartial judge; Isaiah 11:3.

With equity - With uprightness, or uncorrupted integrity.

For the meek of the earth - ענוי־ארץ ‛an^evēy 'ārets. For the humble, the lower class; referring to those who were usually passed by, or oppressed by those in power.

And he shall smite the earth - By the “earth” here, or the land, is meant evidently “the wicked,” as the following member of the parallelism shows. Perhaps it is intended to be implied, that the earth, when he should come, would be eminently depraved; which was the fact. The characteristic here is that of an upright judge or prince, who would punish the wicked. To “smite” the earth, or the wicked, is expressive of punishment; and this characteristic is elsewhere attributed to the Messiah; see Psalms 2:9-12; Revelation 2:27. The trait is that of a just, upright, impartial exercise of power - such as would be manifested in the defense of the poor and the innocent, and in the punishment of the proud and the guilty.

With the rod of his mouth - The word שׁבט shêbet rendered here ‘rod,’ denotes properly a stick, or staff; a rod for chastisement or correction Proverbs 10:13; Proverbs 13:24; Job 9:34; Job 21:9; the staff, or scepter of a ruler - as an emblem of office; a measuring rod; a spear, etc.; Note, Isaiah 10:5. It is not elsewhere applied to the mouth, though it is often used in other connections. It means that which goes out of the mouth - a word command threatening decision; and it is implied that it would go forth to pronounce sentence of condemnation, and to punish. His word would be so just, impartial, and authoritative, that the effect would be to overwhelm the wicked. In a sense similar to this, Christ is said to have been seen by John, when ‘out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword’ Revelation 1:16; that is, his commands and decisions were so authoritative, and so certain in their execution, as to be like a sharp sword; compare Hebrews 4:12; Isaiah 49:2 : ‘And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword.’ The discriminating preaching, the pungent discourses, the authoritative commands of the Lord Jesus, when on earth, showed, and his judicial decisions in the day of judment will show, the manner of the fulfillment of the prediction.

And with the breath of his lips - This is synonymous with the previous member of the parallelism. ‘The breath of his lips’ means that which goes forth from his lips - his doctrines, his commands, his decisions.

Shall he slay the wicked - That is, he shall condemn the wicked; or, he shall sentence them to punishment. This is descriptive of a prince or ruler, who by his commands and decisions effectually subdues and punishes the wicked; that is, he does justice to all. Grotius interprets this, ‘by his prayers,’ referring it to Hezekiah, and to the influence of his prayers in destroying the Assyrians. The Chaldee Paraphrast translates it, ‘And by the word of his lips he shall slay the impious Armillus.’ By “Armillus,” the Jews mean the last great enemy of their nation, who would come after Gog and Magog and wage furious wars, and who would slay the Messiah Ben Ephraim, whom the Jews expect, but who would be himself slain by the rod of the Messiah Ben David, or the son of David. - “Castell.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 11:4. With the rod of his mouth - "By the blast of his mouth"] For בשבט beshebet, by the rod, Houbigant reads beshebeth, by the blast of his mouth, from נשב nashab, to blow. The conjecture is ingenious and probable; and seems to be confirmed by the Septuagint and Chaldee, who render it by the word of his mouth, which answers much better to the correction than to the present reading. Add to this, that the blast of his mouth is perfectly parallel to the breath of his lips in the next line.