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When its boughs are withered, they will be broken off. The women will come and set them on fire, for they are a people of no understanding. Therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them, and he who formed them will show them no favor.
Isaiah 27:11 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV When 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.
  • BSB When its limbs are dry, they are broken off. Women come and use them for kindling; for this is a people without understanding. Therefore their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.
  • NKJV When its boughs are withered, they will be broken off; The women come and set them on fire. For it is a people of no understanding; Therefore He who made them will not have mercy on them, And He who formed them will show them no favor.
  • NASB When its limbs are dry, they are broken off; Women come and make a fire with them, For they are not a people of discernment, Therefore their Maker will not have compassion on them. And their Creator will not be gracious to them.
  • NLT The people are like the dead branches of a tree, broken off and used for kindling beneath the cooking pots. Israel is a foolish and stupid nation, for its people have turned away from God. Therefore, the one who made them will show them no pity or mercy.

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

Because the people lack understanding, their Maker withholds compassion and judgment falls.

Overview

The withered city becomes mere kindling, for its people are without spiritual understanding. Their refusal to know God leaves them under His judgment rather than His favor. This warns that persistent unbelief forfeits mercy, underscoring the need for the new heart God gives through the gospel.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 31

  • Isa 44:24Yahweh, your Redeemer, and he who formed you from the womb says: “I am Yahweh, who makes all things; who alone stretches out the heavens; who spreads out the earth by myself;
  • Isa 1:3The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master’s crib; but Israel doesn’t know, my people don’t consider.”
  • Jer 8:7Yes, the stork in the sky knows her appointed times; and the turtledove, the swallow, and the crane observe the time of their coming; but my people don’t know Yahweh’s law.
  • Isa 43:7everyone who is called by my name, and whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, yes, whom I have made.’”
  • Isa 43:1But now Yahweh who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel says: “Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine.
  • Ezek 9:10As for me also, my eye won’t spare, neither will I have pity, but I will bring their way on their head.”
  • Jer 4:22“For my people are foolish, they don’t know me. They are foolish children, and they have no understanding. They are skillful in doing evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.”
  • John 15:6If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
  • Matt 3:10“Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire.
  • Isa 44:18–21They don’t know, neither do they consider: for he has shut their eyes, that they can’t see; and their hearts, that they can’t understand.
  • Isa 44:2This is what Yahweh who made you, and formed you from the womb, who will help you says: “Don’t be afraid, Jacob my servant; and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
  • Isa 9:17Therefore the Lord will not rejoice over their young men, neither will he have compassion on their fatherless and widows; for everyone is profane and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
  • Gen 6:6–7Yahweh was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart.
  • 2 Chr 36:16–17but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until Yahweh’s wrath arose against his people, until there was no remedy.
  • Deut 32:18–25Of the Rock who became your father, you are unmindful, and have forgotten God who gave you birth.
  • Jer 5:21–22‘Hear now this, foolish people, and without understanding; who have eyes, and don’t see; who have ears, and don’t hear:
  • 1 Th 2:16forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved; to fill up their sins always. But wrath has come on them to the uttermost.
  • Matt 13:19When anyone hears the word of the Kingdom, and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes, and snatches away that which has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown by the roadside.
  • Ps 80:15–16the stock which your right hand planted, the branch that you made strong for yourself.
  • Hos 4:6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you may be no priest to me. Because you have forgotten your God’s law, I will also forget your children.
  • Ezek 20:47and tell the forest of the South, ‘Hear Yahweh’s word: Thus says the Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned thereby.
  • Deut 32:28–29For they are a nation void of counsel. There is no understanding in them.
  • Matt 13:15for this people’s heart has grown callous, their ears are dull of hearing, they have closed their eyes; or else perhaps they might perceive with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and would turn again; and I would heal them.’
  • 2 Th 1:8–9giving vengeance to those who don’t know God, and to those who don’t obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus,
  • Jas 2:13For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
  • Jer 5:4–5Then I said, “Surely these are poor. They are foolish; for they don’t know the way of Yahweh, nor the law of their God.
  • Ps 106:40Therefore Yahweh burned with anger against his people. He abhorred his inheritance.
  • Rom 1:31without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, unforgiving, unmerciful;
  • Deut 4:6Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who shall hear all these statutes, and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”
  • Ezek 15:2–8“Son of man, what is the vine tree more than any tree, the vine-branch which is among the trees of the forest?
  • Rom 1:28Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting;

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 27:11YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 27:11 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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.