In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.

ISAIAH 17:11KJV
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Isaiah 17:11 (KJV)

What does Isaiah 17:11 mean?

Isaiah 17:11 pictures people working to make their plants grow quickly, only to find that the harvest brings grief instead of the hoped-for benefit. The verse contrasts their careful, apparently successful planting with a painful outcome.

After verse 10 describes the planting of pleasant plants, Isaiah focuses on the speed of their growth: the plants seem to flourish almost at once. The KJV’s “heap” pictures the harvest piled up, but the day of harvest becomes a day of grief and desperate sorrow.

The Hebrew behind Isaiah 17:11

  • “plant” — נֶטַע (netaʿ): The word refers to something planted, such as a young plant or a planting. Isaiah’s image centers on plants people have deliberately set in the ground.
  • “flourish” — פָּרַח (parach): The word can mean to sprout or blossom. The image is of visible new growth appearing by morning.

Why Isaiah 17:11 matters

  • The rapid growth is part of the contrast, not the final result. The phrases “in the day” and “in the morning” make the plants’ early success seem remarkably swift, while the second half turns to the sorrow at harvest.

  • The planting image belongs to a warning about misplaced trust. In verse 10, Isaiah addresses people who have forgotten the God of their salvation and then describes their pleasant plants and imported slips, or cuttings.

  • The promised harvest is not described as a cause for celebration. The KJV places the heap of produce in “the day of grief and of desperate sorrow,” making the harvest itself part of the troubling scene.

Where else these words appear

“plant” Hebrew H5194 · used in 4 verses

  • Job 14:9 Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.
  • Isaiah 5:7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.
  • Isaiah 17:10 Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips:

“heap” Hebrew H5067 · used in 6 verses

  • Exodus 15:8 And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.
  • Joshua 3:13 And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap.
  • Psalms 33:7 He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses.

“sorrow” Hebrew H3511 · used in 6 verses

  • Job 2:13 So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.
  • Job 16:6 Though I speak, my grief is not asswaged: and though I forbear, what am I eased?
  • Isaiah 65:14 Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit.

“desperate” Hebrew H605 · used in 9 verses

  • 2 Samuel 12:15 And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.
  • Jeremiah 15:18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?
  • Jeremiah 30:12 For thus saith the LORD, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous.