Isaiah 29:4

You will be brought low, you will speak from the ground, and out of the dust your words will be muffled. Your voice will be like a spirit from the ground; your speech will whisper out of the dust.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The Lord addresses Jerusalem during a divine siege, declaring the city’s impending humiliation and silenced voice.

The words — שָׁפַלְתְּ (sha.falT) translates as “you will become low,” and אֹב ('ov) denotes a “necromancer” or medium.

The thread — The motif of fallen pride and silenced speech recurs in Isaiah 3:8 and Psalm 44:25, while the imagery of whispering from the dust parallels the mediumistic practices condemned in Isaiah 8:19.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that defiance against God results in complete loss of authority and voice, requiring the reader to reject spiritual deception and submit to divine judgment.

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

וְשָׁפַלְתְּ֙ve./sha.falTand/ you will become low מֵאֶ֣רֶץme./'E.retzfrom/ [the] ground תְּדַבֵּ֔רִיte.da.Be.riyou will speak וּמֵֽעָפָ֖רu./me./'a.Farand/ from/ [the] dust תִּשַּׁ֣חti.Shachit will be humbled אִמְרָתֵ֑ךְ'im.ra.Te/khutterance/ your וְֽ֠הָיָהVe./ha.yahand/ it will be כְּא֤וֹבke./'ovlike/ a necromancer מֵאֶ֙רֶץ֙me./'E.retzfrom/ [the] ground קוֹלֵ֔ךְko.Le/khvoice/ your וּמֵעָפָ֖רu./me./'a.Farand/ from/ [the] dust אִמְרָתֵ֥ךְ'im.ra.Te/khutterance/ your תְּצַפְצֵֽף׃te.tzaf.Tzefit will whisper

King James Version

And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.

Cross-references

Isaiah 8:19 When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists who whisper and mutter, shouldn’t a people consult their God instead? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?
Psalms 44:25 For our soul has sunk to the dust; our bodies cling to the earth.
Isaiah 3:8 For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen because they spoke and acted against the LORD, defying His glorious presence.
Isaiah 2:11 The proud look of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
Isaiah 51:23 I will place it in the hands of your tormentors, who told you: ‘Lie down, so we can walk over you,’ so that you made your back like the ground, like a street to be traversed.”
Lamentations 1:9 Her uncleanness stains her skirts; she did not consider her end. Her downfall was astounding; there was no one to comfort her. Look, O LORD, on my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed!