Isaiah 27:11
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.
Study Note
Study Note
'When its boughs are dry, they are broken; women come and make a fire of them. For this is a people without discernment; therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them; he who formed them will show them no favor' — this brief oracle of judgment on Israel uses the image of dry branches fit only for kindling, contrasting with the earlier vine flourishing with divine care (27:2–6). The phrase 'people without discernment' (am lo binot) is a severe prophetic indictment: the failure is not primarily moral but cognitive — they cannot perceive the nature of their situation or of their God. The Creator-creature relationship ('he who made them') grounds the divine refusal of compassion: abandonment comes not from divine capriciousness but from the sustained rejection of covenant relationship. The image prefigures Jesus's withered fig tree (Matthew 21:19) and John 15:6, where branches not bearing fruit are cut off and burned.
Other Translations
When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off; the women shall come, and set them on fire; for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have compassion upon them, and he that formed them will show them no favor.
In the withering of its branch it is broken off, Women are coming in setting it on fire, For it <FI>is<Fi> not a people of understanding, Therefore pity it not doth its Maker, And its Former doth not favour it.
When its branches are dry they will be broken off; the women will come and put fire to them: for it is a foolish people; for this cause he who made them will have no mercy on them, and he whose work they are will not have pity on them.
Cross References
And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, …
Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which …
Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.
The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the …
For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them.
O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!
But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the …
Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the …
And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.