Verse Lens · Context pointer
Isaiah 11:4 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 4. 4But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
The prophetic poem or speech in Isaiah turns or qualifies the movement with “But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth” at Isaiah 11:4 inside “Jesse's Shoot Judges Justly and Makes Peace.”
Read It With
- Isaiah 11:1–9
Read Isaiah 11:4 with 11:1–9. By itself, “But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth” can be detached from the speaker, addressee, historical horizon, poetic movement, or outcome that gives it force. The complete unit establishes: A Spirit-endowed Davidic figure judges beyond appearances, protects poor and meek people, confronts wickedness, and governs a creation where predators no longer destroy.
Why It Needs Context
This context pointer tracks one step in Isaiah 11:1–9: The prophetic poem or speech in Isaiah turns or qualifies the movement with “But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth” at Isaiah 11:4 inside “Jesse's Shoot Judges Justly and Makes Peace.” Read the thought unit before assigning enduring truth or application.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Isaiah 11:1–9 — Jesse's Shoot Judges Justly and Makes PeaceSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? probable
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Isaiah 11:1–9, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Isaiah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology at the exact unit, without treating morphology as apparatus, lexicon, composition history, or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Isa.xml, OSIS 11:1–9 with Hebrew/KJV versification difference checked
Open the fixed Hebrew Isaiah file ↗