Bible Strands
Isaiah 33:8
The highways are deserted; travel has ceased. The treaty has been broken, the witnesses are despised, and human life is disregarded.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Isaiah addresses the nation of Judah following the weeping of peace envoys in verse 7, describing the immediate aftermath of divine judgment before the land's mourning in verse 9.
The words — נָשַׁמּוּ (na.Sha.mu) = they have been made desolate; מְסִלּוֹת (me.si.Lot) = highways. הֵפֵר (he.Fer) = someone has broken; בְּרִית (be.Rit) = a covenant.
The thread — The motif of abandoned roads appears in Judges 5:6, while the contrast between desolation and a restored, holy path is developed in Isaiah 35:8.
Why it lands — The text reports deserted highways, ceased travel, and a broken covenant before noting the disregard for human life, requiring the reader to acknowledge the concrete collapse of social order as a direct consequence of covenant failure.
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
King James Version
The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.
Cross-references
- Judges 5:6 In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were deserted and the travelers took the byways.
- Isaiah 35:8 And there will be a highway called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not travel it—only those who walk in the Way—and fools will not stray onto it.
- 1 Samuel 17:10 Then the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day! Give me a man to fight!”
- 1 Samuel 17:26 David asked the men who were standing with him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
- 2 Kings 18:13 In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked and captured all the fortified cities of Judah.
- 2 Kings 18:20 You claim to have a strategy and strength for war, but these are empty words. In whom are you now trusting, that you have rebelled against me?
- Psalms 10:5 He is secure in his ways at all times; Your lofty judgments are far from him; he sneers at all his foes.
- Isaiah 10:9 “Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?
- Isaiah 10:13 For he says: ‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, for I am clever. I have removed the boundaries of nations and plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their rulers.
- Isaiah 10:29 They have crossed at the ford: “We will spend the night at Geba.” Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul flees.