Verse Lens · Context pointer
Isaiah 49:21 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 21. 21Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
The prophetic poem or speech in Isaiah presses the question “Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children,…” at Isaiah 49:21 within “Zion's Complaint of Abandonment Meets Maternal Memory and Returning Children.”
Read It With
- Isaiah 49:14–23
Isaiah 49:21 belongs to “Zion's Complaint of Abandonment Meets Maternal Memory and Returning Children.” The prophetic poem or speech in Isaiah presses the question “Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children,…” at Isaiah 49:21 within “Zion's Complaint of Abandonment Meets Maternal Memory and Returning Children.” Read the surrounding movement before drawing theology or application.
Why It Needs Context
The prophetic poem or speech in Isaiah presses the question “Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children,…” at Isaiah 49:21 within “Zion's Complaint of Abandonment Meets Maternal Memory and Returning Children.” The line cannot responsibly stand apart from the dated setting, surrounding images or speech, and Isaiah 49:14–23's conclusion.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Isaiah 49:14–23 — Zion's Complaint of Abandonment Meets Maternal Memory and Returning ChildrenSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
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 49:14–23, 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 49:14–23 with Hebrew/KJV versification difference checked
Open the fixed Hebrew Isaiah file ↗