Isaiah 11:4

but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and with equity He will decide for the lowly of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and slay the wicked with the breath of His lips.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Isaiah describes the coming branch from Jesse, the Messiah, in a passage that moves from his character (v. 3) to his garments (v. 5); this verse is the pivot where his disposition becomes action.

The words — דַּלִּים (dalim, "poor") and עַנְוֵי (anvey, "lowly/humble") form a deliberate pair: the first names the economically destitute, the second those crushed or humbled by circumstance, and the verse assigns them different verbs—shaFat (judge) for the poor, hoKhiach (decide/reprove) for the lowly.

The thread — The image of slaying the wicked by the breath of the mouth recurs in 2 Thessalonians 2:8 and is echoed in Revelation 19:15, where a sword proceeds from the mouth to strike nations; Job 4:9 supplies the background that the breath of God is itself a consuming force.

Why it lands — The verse presents a single person whose word simultaneously protects the poor and kills the wicked, asking the reader to hold both functions in one figure and to reckon with which side of that mouth they stand on.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְשָׁפַ֤טve./sha.Fatand/ he will judge בְּצֶ֙דֶק֙be./Tze.dekwith/ righteousness דַּלִּ֔יםda.Limpoor [people]וְהוֹכִ֥יחַve./ho.Khi.achand/ he will decide בְּמִישׁ֖וֹרbe./mi.Shorwith/ uprightness לְעַנְוֵי־le./'an.vei-for/ [the] humble [people] of אָ֑רֶץ'A.retz[the] earth וְהִֽכָּה־ve./hi.kah-and/ he will strike אֶ֙רֶץ֙'e.retz[the] earth בְּשֵׁ֣בֶטbe./She.vetwith/ [the] rod of פִּ֔יוPi/vmouth/ his וּבְר֥וּחַu./ve./Ru.achand/ with/ [the] breath of שְׂפָתָ֖יוse.fa.Ta/vlips/ his יָמִ֥יתya.Mithe will put to death רָשָֽׁע׃ra.Sha'[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.

Cross-references

2 Thessalonians 2:8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of His mouth and annihilate by the majesty of His arrival.
Revelation 19:15 And from His mouth proceeds a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
Job 4:9 By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His anger they are consumed.
Proverbs 31:8 Open your mouth for those with no voice, for the cause of all the dispossessed.
Malachi 4:6 And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”
Psalms 72:12 For he will deliver the needy who cry out and the afflicted who have no helper.
Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners,
Matthew 5:5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Galatians 5:23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
James 3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good conduct, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.