Bible Strands
Isaiah 6:12
until the LORD has driven men far away and the land is utterly forsaken.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God speaks to Isaiah in direct response to his question about the duration of coming judgment. The moment follows a vision of divine holiness and the commission to deliver a message of hardening.
The words — The verb רִחַק (ri.Chak) literally means "he will send far away," describing the forced removal of the population. The adjective עֲזוּבָה ('a.zu.Vah) translates to "abandoned," modifying the land's state of desolation.
The thread — The theme of forced displacement and desolation appears in Deuteronomy 28:64 as a covenant curse, Jeremiah 4:29 as cities flee before approaching armies, and 2 Kings 25:11 as the historical fulfillment of exile.
Why it lands — It demands acknowledgment that divine judgment proceeds to its stated limit, leaving no room for premature restoration. The reader must confront the certainty of the warning's fulfillment.
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
And the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 4:29 Every city flees at the sound of the horseman and archer. They enter the thickets and climb among the rocks. Every city is abandoned; no inhabitant is left.
- Deuteronomy 28:64 Then the LORD will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.
- 2 Kings 25:11 Then Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried into exile the people who remained in the city, along with the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon and the rest of the population.
- 2 Kings 25:21 There at Riblah in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death. So Judah was taken into exile, away from its own land.
- Isaiah 26:15 You have enlarged the nation, O LORD; You have enlarged the nation. You have gained glory for Yourself; You have extended all the borders of the land.
- Jeremiah 12:7 I have forsaken My house; I have abandoned My inheritance. I have given the beloved of My soul into the hands of her enemies.
- Jeremiah 15:4 I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem.
- Jeremiah 52:28 These are the people Nebuchadnezzar carried away: in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews;
- Lamentations 5:20 Why have You forgotten us forever? Why have You forsaken us for so long?
- Romans 11:1 I ask then, did God reject His people? Certainly not! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.