Isaiah 59:11
“We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →In their despair, the people cry out with anguish, seeking judgment and salvation that seem impossibly distant.
Context
The lament continues. The people's cries take on the sounds of animals in distress: the roar of a bear, the mournful cooing of a dove.
What Does Isaiah 59:11 Mean?
We roar all like bears. The bear's roar is powerful but also the cry of a creature in pain or threat. And we mourn sore like doves. The dove's cry is softer, a continuous lamentation. The people are making noise, expressing their anguish in every register, yet it goes unheard. They roar; they mourn. They seek judgment, which would mean the setting right of wrongs, the vindication of the innocent and the judgment of the guilty. But there is none. They seek salvation, the deliverance and wholeness that only God provides. But it is far off from us.
The emotional arc here is profound. We move from the desperate groping of the blind to the desperate cries of wounded animals. The people have exhausted their own resources. They cannot fix what is broken. They can only cry out. And their cry is met with silence. Judgment does not come. Salvation is distant. This is the nadir of the lament, where hope seems to have vanished entirely.
Application
There are seasons when our cries go unanswered, when salvation seems far away. In such times, the honesty of our lamentation becomes itself a form of prayer, a reaching toward God even when we cannot see Him.