Original Word: רָזִי
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: raziy
Pronunciation: rah-ZEE
Phonetic Spelling: (raw-zee')
KJV: leanness
NASB: woe
Word Origin: [from H7329 (רָזָה - become lean)]

1. thinness

leanness

From razah; thinness -- leanness.

see HEBREW razah

Word Origin
from razah
Definition
leanness, wasting
NASB Translation
woe (2).

רָזִי noun [masculine] leanness, wasting; — רָזִילִֿי Isaiah 24:16 (twice in verse) to me, wasting! (opposed to צְבִי).

Prophetic Context in Isaiah 24

The word רָזִי occurs within Isaiah’s grand “Apocalypse” (Isaiah 24–27). The prophet is shown the earth laid waste under divine judgment, yet he also hears a remnant singing: “Glory to the Righteous One!” (Isaiah 24:16). In stark contrast to that song, Isaiah himself cries, “I waste away, I waste away! Woe is me!” The repetition intensifies the lament and sets up a dramatic tension between the celebration of God’s glory and the anguish that accompanies worldwide judgment.

The Cry of Leanness: Spiritual and Physical Implications

1. Self-Lament of the Prophet: The expression conveys more than bodily emaciation; it is a visceral portrayal of the soul’s agony when confronted with the holiness of God and the magnitude of human sin.
2. Collective Identification: Although uttered by Isaiah, the cry voices the experience of the faithful who feel the weight of judgment even while trusting in the Lord’s righteousness.
3. Moral Diagnosis: The “leanness” exposes the emptiness produced by pride and idolatry (Isaiah 24:5–6). Human strength, culture, and economy are reduced to starvation of spirit under God’s purifying hand.

Echoes of the Motif of Wasting Away

• Job 33:21; Psalm 31:10; Psalm 102:4 – testimonies to how affliction strips a person to dependence on God alone.
• Ezekiel 24:23; Lamentations 4:8 – national calamity described in terms of withering and gauntness.
• 2 Corinthians 4:16 – “Though our outer self is wasting away, yet our inner self is being renewed day by day,” revealing how the motif is inverted through resurrection hope.

Redemptive Trajectory

Even as Isaiah cries out, the surrounding oracle promises that the Lord “will swallow up death forever” (Isaiah 25:8). The momentary “leanness” anticipates the fullness of salvation. Judgment thins human self-reliance so that divine grace may fill the vacuum.

Pastoral Applications

• Lament is legitimate worship when it drives believers to trust in God’s righteousness.
• Seasons of spiritual barrenness can herald a deeper renewal.
• The church, like Isaiah, bears witness both to the song of redemption and to the groan of a creation subject to futility (Romans 8:22-23).

Homiletical Insights

1. Contrast: Preach the juxtaposition of “Glory to the Righteous One” with “I waste away,” highlighting the simultaneous realities of celebration and contrition.
2. Warning: Use the imagery of leanness to expose the peril of sin-induced emptiness.
3. Comfort: Point hearers to the promise that divine judgment serves the larger purpose of worldwide restoration (Isaiah 24:23).

Christological Fulfillment

Jesus embodies the righteous remnant and also enters our leanness. At the cross He experiences the ultimate wasting away (Psalm 22:14-15) so that in His resurrection He becomes the firstfruits of the renewed earth foretold by Isaiah. Thus רָזִי, though occurring only in Isaiah 24:16, stands as a poignant signpost pointing from human frailty to the fullness of life secured in Christ.

רָֽזִי־ רָזִי־ רזי־ rā·zî- razi rāzî-Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts