Isaiah 59:8

Translations

King James Version (KJV)

The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whoever goes therein shall not know peace.

American King James Version (AKJV)

The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whoever goes therein shall not know peace.

American Standard Version (ASV)

The way of peace they know not; and there is no justice in their goings: they have made them crooked paths; whosoever goeth therein doth not know peace.

Basic English Translation (BBE)

They have no knowledge of the way of peace, and there is no sense of what is right in their behaviour: they have made for themselves ways which are not straight; whoever goes in them has no knowledge of peace.

Webster's Revision

The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whoever goeth therein shall not know peace.

World English Bible

The way of peace they don't know; and there is no justice in their goings: they have made them crooked paths; whoever goes therein does not know peace.

English Revised Version (ERV)

The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths; whosoever goeth therein doth not know peace.

Clarke's Isaiah 59:8 Bible Commentary

Whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace "Whoever goeth in them knoweth not peace" - For בה bah, singular, read בם bam, plural, with the Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, and Chaldee. The ה he is upon a rasure in one MS. Or, for נתיבתיהם nethibotheyhem, plural, we must read נתיבתם nethibatham, singular, as it is in an ancient MS., to preserve the grammatical concord. - L.

Barnes's Isaiah 59:8 Bible Commentary

The way of peace they know not - The phrase 'way of peace' may denote either peace of conscience, peace with God, peace among themselves, or peace with their fellow-men. Possibly it may refer to all these; and the sense will be, that in their whole lives they were strangers to true contentment and happiness. From no quarter had they peace, but whether in relation to God, to their own consciences, to each other, or to their fellow-men, they were involved in continual strife and agitation (see the notes at Isaiah 57:20-21).

And there is no judgment in their goings - Margin, 'Right.' The sense is, that there was no justice in their dealings. there was no disposition to do right. They were full of selfishness, falsehood, oppression, and cruelty.

They have made them crooked paths - A crooked path is an emblem of dishonesty, fraud, deceit. A straight path is an emblem of sincerity, truth, honesty, and uprightness (see Psalm 125:5; Proverbs 2:15; and the notes at Isaiah 40:4). The idea is, that their counsels and plans were perverse and evil. We have a similar expression now when we say of a man that he is 'straightforward,' meaning that he is an honest man.

Wesley's Isaiah 59:8 Bible Commentary

59:8 The way of peace - They live in continual contentions, and discords. Judgment - No justice, equity, faith, or integrity.