These two things have happened to you— who will console you?— devastation and destruction, famine and sword; who will comfort you?
English Standard Version (ESV)
What's easy to miss here is that the question "who will console you?" is not just rhetorical, but a profound expression of God's perspective. He isn't finding anyone capable of consoling Zion in her utter devastation, highlighting the depth of her suffering and the unique role only He can fill.
These two things have happened to you— who will console you?— devastation and destruction, famine and sword; who will comfort you?
English Standard Version (ESV)
After describing how desolate and abandoned Jerusalem has become, God laments that there is no one left to comfort her. He lists the devastating calamities – destruction, famine, and the sword – that have befallen the city, painting a picture of utter devastation and despair.
Isaiah paints a picture of utter ruin, not just with one or two problems, but a terrifying quartet. What does this specific list reveal about God's judgment and the depth of human suffering?
The prophet Isaiah doesn't hold back in describing the devastation that has befallen Jerusalem (or Judah). He lists:
Commentators note that these four can be seen as two pairs: desolation and destruction as the effects, and famine and sword as the causes or means by which these effects come about. It’s a comprehensive picture of a society collapsing under God's judgment. The repetition and intensity underscore the severity of the situation, leaving no room for doubt about the completeness of the disaster.
Even in the midst of such profound suffering, God poses a heart-wrenching question: 'Who will comfort you?' What does this reveal about God's perspective on their pain?
The verses are striking because they present God (or the prophetic voice representing Him) asking can comfort this devastated people. This isn't a question of God's inability, but a rhetorical device that emphasizes the unparalleled nature of their suffering.
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Understand the original words
shod · Hebrew Noun
The complete laying waste or desolation of a city or land as a result of divine judgment for covenant disobedience. It implies an overwhelming ruin.
ra'ab · Hebrew Noun
A severe scarcity of food, often cited in Scripture as a covenant curse or a means of divine discipline to bring a people to repentance.
chereb · Hebrew Noun
An instrument of war often used in Scripture as a symbol of divine judgment or the consequence of divine abandonment, resulting in death and slaughter.
This verse vividly captures the utter devastation and despair of Jerusalem and its people following the Babylonian conquest and destruction of the Temple. It speaks to a time when the land was ravaged by famine and war, leaving no one to offer comfort, setting the stage for God's promise of future restoration.
c. 597 BC
First Babylonian Deportation
King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon deports King Jehoiachin and a significant portion of Jerusalem's elite to Babylon, marking the beginning of the Judean exile.
c. 586 BC— this verse
Destruction of Jerusalem and First Temple
Nebuchadnezzar destroys Jerusalem and the First Temple, exiling most of the remaining population to Babylon. This event plunges Judah into profound crisis and despair.
c. 586 BC - 539 BC
The Babylonian Exile
The Judean people live in exile in Babylon, facing devastation, destruction, famine, and sword, as described in Isaiah 51:19, while longing for restoration.
539 BC
Persian Conquest of Babylon
Cyrus the Great of Persia conquers Babylon, paving the way for the eventual return of the Judean exiles.
c. 538 BC
Edict of Cyrus and Return of Exiles
Cyrus issues a decree allowing exiled peoples, including the Judeans, to return to their homelands and rebuild their temples. This marks the beginning of the return.
This passage echoes the sentiment of extreme distress and lack of comfort, asking 'Who will pity you? Who will turn aside to comfort you?' mirroring the rhetorical questions in Isaiah 51:19.
Lamentations 1:2This verse describes Zion's suffering in a way that aligns with the 'desolation and destruction' mentioned in Isaiah, highlighting the absence of comforters: 'She has no one to comfort her; all her friends have betrayed her and are now her enemies.'
Ezekiel 14:21This passage describes a similar scenario of compounded judgment – sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence – as means of God’s severe discipline, which would leave a land desolate and without comfort.
Psalm 77:3This psalm expresses deep distress where comfort is sought but not found, with the psalmist saying, 'When I remembered these things, I poured out my soul in me; for I had gone with the multitude, I had gone before them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.' This captures a similar feeling of isolation in suffering.
Isaiah 51:3This verse offers a stark contrast, promising that God *will* comfort Zion and make her wilderness like Eden, directly countering the desolation and lack of comfort described in verse 19 and highlighting God's ultimate role as the source of comfort.
barnesIsaiah 51:19: "These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee?"
These two things are come unto thee - Margin, 'Happened.' That is, two sources of calamity have come upon thee; to wit, famine and the sword, producing desolation and destruction; or desolation by famine, and destruction by the sword (see Lowth on Hebrew Poetry, Lect. xix.) The idea here is, that far-spread destruction had oc…
wesleyIsaiah 51:19: "These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee?"
51:19 These things - Those which follow, which tho' expressed in four words, may fitly be reduced to two things, the desolation or devastation of the land, and the destruction of the people by famine and sword. So famine and sword are not named as new evils, but only as the particular ways of bringing the destruction. By whom…
What's easy to miss here is that the question "who will console you?" is not just rhetorical, but a profound expression of God's perspective. He isn't finding anyone capable of consoling Zion in her utter devastation, highlighting the depth of her suffering and the unique role only He can fill.
After describing how desolate and abandoned Jerusalem has become, God laments that there is no one left to comfort her. He lists the devastating calamities – destruction, famine, and the sword – that have befallen the city, painting a picture of utter devastation and despair.
After describing how desolate and abandoned Jerusalem has become, God laments that there is no one left to comfort her. He lists the devastating calamities – destruction, famine, and the sword – that have befallen the city, painting a picture of utter devastation and despair.
"These two things have happened to you— who will console you?— devastation and destruction, famine and sword; who will comfort you?" — What's easy to miss here is that the question "who will console you?" is not just rhetorical, but a profound expression of God's perspective. He isn't finding anyone capable of consoling Zion in he…
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Last reviewed October 2026