What Does Isaiah 5:15 Mean?

And the human shall be bowed down, and the mighty man shall be brought low, and the eyes of the lofty shall be brought low.

Isaiah 5:15 · SDV

Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.

Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.

This verse in the King James

King James wording

King James Version

And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled:

THE KEY

The same Hebrew word lowers both the powerful person and the lofty eyes, bringing status and the gaze of superiority down together.

THE MEANING

The verse places the ordinary person, the powerful person, and the elevated gaze under the same lowering. Human rank and the way a person looks down from above are both exposed to being brought low now.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The belief that power or a sense of superiority makes someone untouchable is undone.

THE ROOT

וַיִּשְׁפַּל־אִישׁ

vayyishpal ish tishpalnah

GROWS FROM

שפל

sh-p-l

To be low or brought down.

The same root describes the mighty man being humbled and the lofty eyes being brought low. English can make these sound like separate outcomes, while Hebrew ties a person’s stature to the gaze that expresses it.

ALSO GROWS

shaphal: Low, humble.

שָׁפָל

The adjective names the low position that the verse’s verbs bring about.

shephelah: Lowland.

שְׁפֵלָה

This related word makes lowliness a place one can be brought down to, as well as a condition.

shiflut: Lowliness, humility.

שִׁפְלוּת

It names the state that results when claimed height is lowered.

עֵינֵי

ʿênê

GROWS FROM

עין

ʿ-y-n

Eye; the same Hebrew noun also means a spring or fountain.

The verse singles out the eyes of the lofty, so the lowering reaches their gaze as well as their standing. The Hebrew word for eye also names a spring or fountain, giving the word a sense of source alongside sight.

ALSO GROWS

ʿayin: Eye, organ of sight.

עַיִן

This is the singular noun behind the verse’s phrase “eyes of the lofty.”

ʿayin: Spring, fountain.

עַיִן

The same Hebrew word can name a source of water, a sense that English “eyes” does not carry.

THE PATTERN

Human elevation is brought low, while those of low degree can be raised.

The LORD strips, and makes rich; he lays low, and lifts high.

1 Samuel 2:7 · SDVThe verse sets lowering and lifting side by side as movements that cross human rank.

He has pulled the mighty down from their seats, and lifted up the low.

Luke 1:52 · SDVThe mighty are lowered from their seats while people of low degree are raised.

But he gives greater favor. Therefore it says, God sets himself against those who lift themselves high, and gives favor to those made low.

James 4:6 · SDVThe proud and the humble occupy opposite positions in the same pattern of lowering and favor.

THE THREAD

The lifted eyes of man shall be brought low, and the heights of men shall bow down, and the LORD alone shall be lifted high in that day.

Isaiah 2:11 · SDV

This verse repeats the same root ⁨שפל⁩ (sh-p-l), “to be brought low,” for lofty human looks. Isaiah 5:15 makes the connection especially clear: the lowering reaches both the person and the gaze that claims height.

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