Isaiah 6:11

“Then said I, Lord, how long? &c.] That is, how long will this blindness, hardness, stupidity, and impenitence, remain with this people, or they be under such a sore judgment of God upon them: and he answered, until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate; until there is not an inhabitant in the cities of Judea, nor in Jerusalem, the metropolis of the land, nor a single man in any house in them; which denotes the utter desolation of the land and city; and can refer to no other than to the desolation thereof by the Romans; and till that time the blindness which happened to them continued; the things which belonged to their peace…”

“how long--will this wretched condition of the nation being hardened to its destruction continue? until-- (Isa 5:9) --fulfilled primarily at the Babylonish captivity, and more fully at the dispersion under the Roman Titus.”

“How long - The prophet did not dare to pray that this effect should not follow. He asked merely therefore “how long” this state of things must continue; how long this message was to be delivered, and how long it should be attended with these painful effects. Until the cities ... - They will remain perverse and obstinate until the land is completely destroyed by divine judgments. Still the truth is to be proclaimed, though it is known it will have no effect in reforming the nation. This refers, doubtless, to the destruction that was accomplished by the Babylonians. The houses without man - This is strong language, denoting the certain and widespread desolation that should come upon the…”

“Lord - An abrupt speech, arising from the prophet's great passion and astonishment: how long shall this dreadful judgment last? Until - Until this land be totally destroyed, first by the Babylonians, and afterward by the Romans. Isaiah 6:12”

“6:11 how long . . . until . . . the whole country is a wasteland: During the prophet’s ministry (740 to 685 BC), the nation was plagued by wars, famines, and other forms of devastation.”

“Lord: Psa 74:10, Psa 90:13, Psa 94:3 Until the: Isa 1:7, Isa 3:26, Isa 24:1-12 utterly desolate: Heb. desolate with desolation Isaiah 6:12”

“Isaiah heard with sighing, and yet with obedience, in what the mission to which he had so cheerfully offered himself was to consist. Isa 6:11. "Then said I, Lord, how long?" He inquired how long this service of hardening and this state of hardness were to continue - a question forced from him by his sympathy with the nation to which he himself belonged (cf., Exo 32:9-14), and one which was warranted by the certainty that God, who is ever true to His promises, could not cast off Israel as a people for ever. The answer follows in Isa 6:11-13 : "Until towns are wasted without inhabitant, and houses are without man, and the ground shall be laid waste, a wilderness, and Jehovah shall put men far…”