Bible Strands
Isaiah 47:11
But disaster will come upon you; you will not know how to charm it away. A calamity will befall you that you will be unable to ward off. Devastation will happen to you suddenly and unexpectedly.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Isaiah pronounces judgment on Babylon, addressing a city that previously boasted of eternal security and claimed exclusive divinity while practicing wickedness. The prophecy is delivered in the immediate aftermath of her arrogant self-deification and her reliance on occult sorceries.
The words — The Hebrew רָעָה (ra'ah) denotes the "calamity" that will come upon her, paired with שַׁחְרָהּ (shachrah), meaning "to charm it away," highlighting the futility of her spells. The verb תֵדְעִי (tedi) indicates she "will not know" how to prevent it, emphasizing total helplessness against the coming disaster.
The thread — Sudden, inescapable judgment recurs in 1 Thessalonians 5:3, where destruction arrives unexpectedly despite claims of peace, and in Revelation 18:9, where Babylon's fall triggers weeping. The motif of sudden divine strike also appears in Exodus 12:29.
Why it lands — The text demands acknowledgment that human wisdom and occult practices cannot avert divine judgment. It confronts the reader with the reality that self-deification and false security inevitably collapse under sudden, unpreventable consequence.
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
Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know.
Cross-references
- 1 Thessalonians 5:3 While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
- Revelation 18:9 Then the kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her will weep and wail at the sight of the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her.
- Exodus 12:29 Now at midnight the LORD struck down every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon, as well as all the firstborn among the livestock.
- Nehemiah 4:11 And our enemies said, “Before they know or see a thing, we will come into their midst, kill them, and put an end to the work.”
- Psalms 50:22 Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:
- Jeremiah 51:39 While they are flushed with heat, I will serve them a feast, and I will make them drunk so that they may revel; then they will fall asleep forever and never wake up, declares the LORD.
- Daniel 5:25 Now this is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN.
- Luke 12:59 I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the very last penny.”
- Revelation 3:3 Remember, then, what you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know the hour when I will come upon you.
- Isaiah 37:36 Then the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!