And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not.
Parallel translations
- WEB Man is brought low, and mankind is humbled; therefore don’t forgive them.
- BSB So mankind is brought low, and man is humbled—do not forgive them!
- NKJV People bow down, And each man humbles himself; Therefore do not forgive them.
- NASB So the common person has been humbled And the person of importance has been brought low, But do not forgive them.
- NLT So now they will be humbled, and all will be brought low— do not forgive them.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Humanity is brought low and humbled, and Isaiah pleads that God not forgive them. The idolaters face inescapable abasement under judgment.
Overview
The bowing down here is humiliation under judgment, not humble worship. The plea 'don't forgive them' expresses the seriousness of impenitent idolatry rather than a denial of mercy to the repentant. It underscores how God opposes the proud, a theme answered by grace only to the humble (James 4:6).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Isa 5:15And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled:
- Mark 3:29But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:
- Josh 24:19And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.
- Neh 4:5And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee: for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders.
- Rom 3:23For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
- Jer 18:23Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger.
- Isa 27:11When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favour.
- Ps 62:9Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.
- Col 2:23Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.
- Isa 57:9And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even unto hell.
- Ps 49:2Both low and high, rich and poor, together.
- Rev 6:15–17And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
- Jer 5:4–5Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.
- Col 2:18Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 2:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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