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The LORD has raised up the foes of Rezin against him and joined his enemies together.
Isaiah 9:11 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Therefore Yahweh will set up on high against him the adversaries of Rezin, and will stir up his enemies,
  • KJV Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together;
  • NKJV Therefore the Lord shall set up The adversaries of Rezin against him, And spur his enemies on,
  • NASB Therefore the Lord raises superior adversaries against them from Rezin And provokes their enemies,
  • NLT But the Lord will bring Rezin’s enemies against Israel and stir up all their foes.

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

God will raise up enemies against proud Israel as the instrument of his judgment.

Overview

Because of their arrogance, God stirs up adversaries to come against the northern kingdom. The very nations they might have allied with become tools of discipline. The verse shows God sovereignly directing history to humble a defiant people.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 6

  • 2 Kgs 15:29In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and he took the people as captives to Assyria.
  • 2 Kgs 16:9So the king of Assyria responded to him, marched up to Damascus, and captured it. He took its people to Kir as captives and put Rezin to death.
  • Isa 17:1–5This is the burden against Damascus: “Behold, Damascus is no longer a city; it has become a heap of ruins.
  • Isa 8:4–7For before the boy knows how to cry ‘Father’ or ‘Mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”
  • Isa 7:8For the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered as a people.
  • Isa 10:9–11“Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

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 9:11YouTube · 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 9:11 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.