Isaiah 59:14 · Bible study
Isaiah 59:14 Commentary: Collapse of Justice and the Hope Beyond
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
When truth falls and justice is driven back, Isaiah 59:14 diagnoses society's rot and points to God's rescue.
Research Summary
- Meaning: A confession that sin has driven justice, truth, and righteousness from public life, setting the stage for God's lone intervention.
- Key words: מִשְׁפָּט (justice, H4941), צְדָקָה (righteousness, H6666), אֱמֶת (truth, H0571), נְכֹחָה (uprightness, H5229), רְחוֹב (street/plaza, H7339).
- Main debate: Whether these terms refer strictly to civil courts or extend to church order (Gill) and whether the personification is poetic license or a theological claim about the nature of justice.
- Theological theme: Total human inability to produce justice; God alone must act for salvation.
- Best use: A diagnosis of systemic sin that humbles us and magnifies God's grace in providing a righteous King.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
So justice is turned away, and righteousness stands at a distance. For truth has stumbled in the public square, and honesty cannot enter.
WEB World English Bible 2000
Justice is turned away backward, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has fallen in the street, and uprightness can’t enter.
KJV King James Version 1769
And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
And justice is turned away backward, and righteousness standeth afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and uprightness cannot enter.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
And removed backward is judgment, And righteousness afar off standeth, For truth hath been feeble in the street, And straightforwardness is not able to enter,
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And judgment is turned away backward, and righteousness standeth afar off; for truth stumbleth in the street, and uprightness cannot enter.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
And judgment is turned away backward, and justice hath stood far off: because truth hath fallen down in the street, and equity could not come in.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Y el derecho se retiró, y la justicia se puso lejos: porque la verdad tropezó en la plaza, y la equidad no pudo venir.
Por isso que o direito retrocedeu, e a justiça ficou de longe; pois a verdade tropeçou na praça, e a correta decisão não pode entrar.
Et la délivrance s’ est retirée,
Und das Recht ist zurückgewichen und Gerechtigkeit fern getreten; denn die Wahrheit fällt auf der Gasse, und Recht kann nicht einhergehen,
Daarom is het recht achterwaarts geweken, en de gerechtigheid staat van verre; want de waarheid struikelt op de straat, en wat recht is, kan er niet ingaan.
E la sentenza liberatrice s’è ritirata, e la salvezza s’è tenuta lontana; poiché la verità soccombe sulla piazza pubblica, e la rettitudine non può avervi accesso;
Tak, że się sąd opak obrócił, a sprawiedliwość z daleka stoi; bo na ulicy prawda szwankowała, a prawość przejścia nie ma.
И суд отступил назад, и правда стала вдали, ибо истина преткнулась на площади, и честность не может войти.
並且公平 轉而退 後，公義 站 在遠處； 誠實 在街上 仆倒，正直 也不 得 進入。
And the right is turned back, and righteousness is far away: for good faith is not to be seen in the public places, and upright behaviour may not come into the town.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Isaiah 59:14
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that Isaiah 59:14 describes a society where the foundational pillars of public life have collapsed. Barnes notes that the language is 'all taken from courts of justice', justice is personified as a figure turned away from the city, and righteousness stands at a distance, 'deterred by their sins.' The Cambridge Bible observes the same 'bold personification' of judgment and justice as 'civic virtues' eager to enter but kept out by corruption. Keil and Delitzsch stress that these terms refer here not to God's attributes but to 'the fundamental civic virtues' of honest legal proceedings. The Hebrew verb וְהֻסַּג (huSag, Hophal perfect) carries the sense of being forcibly removed, justice has been driven back against its will. And truth (אֱמֶת, emet) has stumbled (כָשְׁלָה, khashlah) in the broad plaza where cases were decided. Gill extends the application to the church, where 'no order nor discipline' can enter. But the core agreement is clear: the verse diagnoses a society where truth has no public voice and justice cannot function. This bleak picture sets the stage for God's own intervention, announced in verses 16, 17.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: The verse depicts a complete collapse of justice, truth, and uprightness in public life, caused by sin, and sets the stage for God's redemptive intervention.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning of 'justice' and 'righteousness' | Commentators agree that these terms in v.14 refer primarily to ethical conduct in human courts, not God's attributes (Keil, Cambridge). | Some (Gill) extend the application to church discipline and doctrinal truth; others (Barnes, Keil) keep the focus on civil legal systems. |
| Cause of the breakdown | All agree that personal and social sin (v.12, 13) is the direct cause, injustice is not an accident. | Whether the confession implies that God himself has turned justice away (as judgment) or that human sin alone has done so. Most see human sin as the agent. |
| Hope implied or explicit | All agree the verse itself offers no hope but catalogs failure; hope arrives in v.16, 17. | Whether the hope should be read directly back into v.14 (so the collapse is already the context for grace) or kept distinct as a separate announcement. |
Historical & Cultural Context
This verse stands within a confession spoken by the people of Judah (Isaiah 59:9, 15). They are acknowledging that their own sins have blocked God's salvation from reaching them. The 'street' (רְחוֹב, rechov) is not a random lane but the broad open place at the city gate, the public square and courtroom. There, elders and judges sat to hear cases (Psalm 82:2; Ecclesiastes 3:16). So when 'truth has fallen in the street,' it means truth has collapsed in the very place where honest testimony was supposed to prevail.
Bribery and oppression had replaced justice, as earlier prophets charged (Isaiah 5:23; 10:1, 2). The confession accepts that this corruption is why God's deliverance seems far off (v.11). The literary context moves from personal sins (v.12, 13) to public injustice (v.14). This is not just individual failure; the entire legal system has turned against right.
Yet the surrounding passage shows that God will not abandon his people. He 'saw that there was no man' to intervene, and so 'his own arm brought salvation' (v.16). This pattern echoes throughout Scripture: when human justice fails completely, God steps in as the righteous judge and redeemer. The verse thus functions as a diagnosis of sin's full social effects, preparing for the announcement of divine rescue.
Textual Notes
The supplied sources note no significant textual variants for this verse. The interlinear text matches the traditional Hebrew (Masoretic) reading. Variants in the Targum and other ancient versions reflect interpretative paraphrases rather than textual differences.
Reception History
Jewish interpretation, reflected in the Targum, reads the verse as describing those who do truth stumbling and the faithful being oppressed. Early Christian commentators saw here a portrait of fallen humanity's inability to produce righteousness. During the Reformation, Luther and Calvin applied the verse to both civil society and the church, emphasizing that true justice comes only from God. In modern times, the verse has been used by the social justice movement to lament systemic corruption, while evangelical preachers have focused on the need for personal conversion as the root of public integrity. Despite these different applications, the consistent thread is that human institutions alone cannot sustain truth and justice, God’s intervention is necessary.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- Justice driven back. The Hebrew verb suggests forcible removal, people have actively shoved justice away. What is right no longer holds its place in public decisions.
- Righteousness stands at a distance. It is not driven away but voluntarily removed. A society that loves evil cannot host righteousness. It waits outside, unwelcome.
- Truth has fallen in the street. In the very place where truth should speak loudest, the public square, the courtroom, it lies helpless. Honest testimony is trampled.
Five-point outline
- Forced reversal: Justice is turned backward (v.14a). The system meant to protect the innocent now persecutes them.
- Distant righteousness: Right conduct cannot draw near (v.14b). Corruption creates a barrier.
- Stumbling truth: Emet trips and falls in the broad plaza (v.14c). Reliability and faithfulness have no footing.
- Locked out uprightness: Nekhochah, straightness of intention, cannot enter (v.14d). The gates are barred by collective sin.
- Divine intervention: Verse 16 shifts the scene. God sees the hopeless situation and acts alone, his own arm brings salvation. Human failure becomes the backdrop for grace.
Illustration hooks
- A courtroom where the judge accepts a bribe. The scales of justice are not just unbalanced, they are thrown out entirely.
- A town square where false rumors spread faster than fact. People believe the accusation before hearing the defense.
- A workplace where honesty is punished. An employee who reports a safety violation is fired, while the lie is protected.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Does this verse describe ancient Israel only, or does it speak to our own institutions?
- What do we do when the legal system itself becomes corrupt? Is there any recourse?
- How does God's response in verses 16, 17 give hope for situations that seem beyond repair?
Leading a Discussion
This verse is a confession. Before a society can be healed, it must admit where it has broken down. As you discuss, notice that the passage moves from personal sin to systemic failure, the two are always connected.
Discussion questions
- Why does the verse personify justice, righteousness, truth, and uprightness? What effect does that have on the reader?
- The Hebrew word for truth (אֱמֶת, emet) carries connotations of reliability and faithfulness. What does it mean for such a thing to 'stumble' in the public square?
- In what ways do we see justice 'turned backward' today, in our communities, our nation, or even our churches?
- Compare this verse with Isaiah 1:21 or Psalm 82. How do the prophets speak about the failure of justice?
- If this verse were the end of the story, where would hope be? How does the surrounding context (especially vv.15, 17) change that?
- How does Jesus Christ embody the justice and righteousness that the verse says cannot enter? (See 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Corinthians 1:30.)
- What is one concrete step your group could take to 'lift up truth' in your own public space, your workplace, family, or church?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Psalms 82:2 | “How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked?” Selah. |
| Psalms 82:5 | They don’t know, neither do they understand. They walk back and forth in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are shaken. |
| Ecclesiastes 3:16 | Moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of justice, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there. |
| Isaiah 1:21 | How the faithful city has become a prostitute! She was full of justice. Righteousness lodged in her, but now there are murderers. |
| Isaiah 5:23 | who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice for the innocent! |
| Isaiah 10:1 | Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers who write oppressive decrees |
| Isaiah 10:2 | to deprive the needy of justice, and to rob the poor among my people of their rights, that widows may be their plunder, and that they may make the fatherless their prey! |
| Isaiah 59:4 | No one sues in righteousness, and no one pleads in truth. They trust in vanity and speak lies. They conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
9 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke notes that the Hebrew word translated as "justice" in this verse actually means "alms to the poor" according to Rabbi Kimchi. He draws a connection to a textual variation in Matthew, where the best copies read "righteousness" rather than "alms."
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes clarifies that "judgment" here means justice between people, not God's intervention. He pictures justice as a person deterred by sin from entering the city, and truth as fallen in the gate where court decisions were made. The confession is about corrupt legal proceedings, bribes, and partiality that blocked fair rulings.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The confession traces a path from personal sin to public injustice. Judgment and justice are civic virtues, not God's vindication of Israel, personified as eager but blocked by corruption. Truth stumbles in the city gate where cases were decided, and uprightness cannot enter.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
Therefore iudgement is turned backewarde, and iustice standeth farre off: for trueth is fallen in the streete, and equitie cannot enter.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill reads the passage as describing a total breakdown of justice, both in civil courts and in churches. He stresses that judgment and truth are actively pushed away and trampled, not merely absent. Faithful people are forced into hiding because they cannot stand against the opposition they face.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
Justice and righteousness are put away from our legal courts. in the street —in the forum, the place of judicature, usually at the gate of the city ( Zec 8:16 ). cannot enter —is shut out from the forum, or courts of justice.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch emphasise that the people's confession confesses their own moral depravity, not a failure of divine justice. God sees no human intercessor willing or able to help, so His own arm becomes His salvation. His righteous, zealous nature arms Him for judgment and deliverance without any external weapon.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry sees these verses as the people’s own confession, not just a prophet’s warning. They are acknowledging that sin is the real troublemaker, keeping good away and bringing evil, and that God is just to treat them as they have treated Him. Their words are a forced but honest admission that their suffering fits their sin.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley specifies that the judgment in view is the sentencing in public courts of law. His point is that truth has been thrown to the ground and justice openly trampled, with equity having no place at all in those proceedings. The corruption is not hidden but brazen and official.