Bible Strands
Isaiah 8:21
They will roam the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged; and looking upward, they will curse their king and their God.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet addresses Israel immediately after warning them to consult the law and testimony, describing the desperate condition of those who refuse that guidance.
The words — נִקְשֶׁה (nik.Sheh) means hard pressed, and וְ/קִלֵּ֧ל (ve./ki.Lel) means it will curse, marking the transition from starvation to open rebellion.
The thread — This pattern of deprivation breeding defiance appears in Proverbs 19:3, Isaiah 9:20, and Exodus 22:28.
Why it lands — The text requires acknowledging that rejecting divine instruction produces physical desperation that inevitably turns into cursing both God and human authority.
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 they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 19:3 A man’s own folly subverts his way, yet his heart rages against the LORD.
- Isaiah 9:20 They carve out what is on the right, but they are still hungry; they eat what is on the left, but they are still not satisfied. Each one devours the flesh of his own offspring.
- Exodus 22:28 You must not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people.
- Deuteronomy 28:33 A people you do not know will eat the produce of your land and of all your toil. All your days you will be oppressed and crushed.
- Deuteronomy 28:53 Then you will eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and distress that your enemy will inflict on you.
- 2 Kings 25:3 By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food.
- Job 1:11 But stretch out Your hand and strike all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”
- Job 2:5 But stretch out Your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”
- Job 2:9 Then Job’s wife said to him, “Do you still retain your integrity? Curse God and die!”
- Isaiah 8:7 the Lord will surely bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates—the king of Assyria and all his pomp. It will overflow its channels and overrun its banks.