The light of Israel will be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame; and it will burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day.
Parallel Translations
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The light of Israel will be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame; and it will burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day.
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And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day;
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And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame; and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day.
Cross-references (30)
Passages linked to Isaiah 10:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 27:4 Wrath is not in me, but if I should find briers and thorns, I would do battle! I would march on them and I would burn them together.
- Numbers 11:1-3 The people were complaining in the ears of Yahweh. When Yahweh heard it, his anger burned; and Yahweh’s fire burned among them, and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. The people cried to Moses; and Moses prayed to Yahweh, and the fire abated. The name of that place was called Taberah, because Yahweh’s fire burned among them.
- Numbers 16:35 Fire came out from Yahweh, and devoured the two hundred fifty men who offered the incense.
- Isaiah 37:23 Whom have you defied and blasphemed? Against whom have you exalted your voice and lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel.
- Jeremiah 4:4 Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh, and take away the foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go out like fire, and burn so that no one can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
- Jeremiah 7:20 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, on man, on animal, on the trees of the field, and on the fruit of the ground; and it will burn and will not be quenched.”
- Nahum 1:10 For entangled like thorns, and drunken as with their drink, they are consumed utterly like dry stubble.
- Revelation 22:5 There will be no night, and they need no lamp light or sun light; for the Lord God will illuminate them. They will reign forever and ever.
- Psalms 18:8 Smoke went out of his nostrils. Consuming fire came out of his mouth. Coals were kindled by it.
- Psalms 21:9 You will make them as a fiery furnace in the time of your anger. Yahweh will swallow them up in his wrath. The fire shall devour them.
- Psalms 27:1 Yahweh is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Yahweh is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?
- Psalms 50:3 Our God comes, and does not keep silent. A fire devours before him. It is very stormy around him.
- Psalms 83:14-15 As the fire that burns the forest, as the flame that sets the mountains on fire, so pursue them with your tempest, and terrify them with your storm.
- Psalms 84:11 For Yahweh God is a sun and a shield. Yahweh will give grace and glory. He withholds no good thing from those who walk blamelessly.
- Psalms 97:3 A fire goes before him, and burns up his adversaries on every side.
- Isaiah 9:18 For wickedness burns like a fire. It devours the briers and thorns; yes, it kindles in the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke.
- Isaiah 30:27-28 Behold, Yahweh’s name comes from far away, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke. His lips are full of indignation. His tongue is as a devouring fire. His breath is as an overflowing stream that reaches even to the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction. A bridle that leads to ruin will be in the jaws of the peoples.
- Isaiah 31:9 His rock will pass away by reason of terror, and his princes will be afraid of the banner,” says Yahweh, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.
- Isaiah 33:14 The sinners in Zion are afraid. Trembling has seized the godless ones. Who among us can live with the devouring fire? Who among us can live with everlasting burning?
- Isaiah 37:36 Then Yahweh’s angel went out and struck one hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the camp of the Assyrians. When men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
- Isaiah 60:19 The sun will be no more your light by day; nor will the brightness of the moon give light to you, but Yahweh will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.
- Isaiah 64:1-2 Oh that you would tear the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence. As when fire kindles the brushwood, and the fire causes the water to boil; Make your name known to your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at your presence!
- Isaiah 66:15-16 For, behold, Yahweh will come with fire, and his chariots will be like the whirlwind; to render his anger with fierceness, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For Yahweh will execute judgment by fire and by his sword on all flesh; and those slain by Yahweh will be many.
- Isaiah 66:24 “They will go out, and look at the dead bodies of the men who have transgressed against me; for their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.”
- Nahum 1:5-6 The mountains quake before him, and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, yes, the world, and all who dwell in it. Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the fierceness of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken apart by him.
- Malachi 4:1-3 “For, behold, the day comes, it burns as a furnace; and all the proud, and all who work wickedness, will be stubble; and the day that comes will burn them up,” says Yahweh of Armies, “that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But to you who fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in its wings. You will go out, and leap like calves of the stall. You shall tread down the wicked; for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I make,” says Yahweh of Armies.
- Matthew 3:12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire.”
- 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 and to give relief to you who are afflicted with us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, punishing those who don’t know God, and to those who don’t obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus, who will pay the penalty: eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
- Hebrews 12:29 for our God is a consuming fire.
- Revelation 21:23 The city has no need for the sun or moon to shine, for the very glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain That is, the Assyrians.
That is, the Assyrians.
Meaning, that God is a light to comfort his people, and a fire to burn his enemies.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 10:17 And the light of Israel shall be…
Isa 10:17 And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day;
Ver. 17. And the light of Israel shall be for a fire.] To Israel he shall be a comfortable light - to their enemies a consuming fire, as Exo 14:24. Ecce idem iustis et fidelibus suavis, impiis autem gravis.
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His thorns and his briers.] His army, which is so troublesome and vexatious to Israel. God will "go through them, he will burn them {a} together." {Isa 27:4}
In one day,] i.e., In one night, being part of the natural day. So the Spanish Armada was quickly dispersed, which had been so many years in rigging and setting forward.
{a} Assyrios, quibus ut sentibus vepribusque cohorrebat terra. - Jun.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The light of Israel, that God who is and…
The light of Israel, that God who is and will be a comfortable light to his people,
shall be for a fire to the Assyrians who shall have heat without light, as it is in hell.
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His thorns and briers; his vast army, which is no more able to resist God, than dry thorns and briers are to oppose the fire which is kindled among them.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And shall consume the glory of his forest,.... The…
And shall consume the glory of his forest,.... The Assyrian army is compared to a "forest", for the number of men in it; and for the mighty men in it, comparable to large and tall trees, such as oaks and cedars; and like a wood or forest a numerous army looks, when in rank and file, in proper order, and with banners, and having on their armour, their shields, spears, bows and arrows; and the "glory" of it intends either the princes and nobles that were in it, the principal officers, generals, and captains; or the riches of it, the plunder of the Egyptians and Ethiopians, as Kimchi observes, which were all destroyed at once:
both soul and body, or "from the soul even to the flesh" (o); which denotes the total consumption of them, nothing of them remaining; the Targum is,
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"the glory of the multitude of his army, and their souls with their bodies, it shall consume;''
and so some understand this of the eternal destruction of soul and body in hell: the Rabbins are divided about the manner of the consumption of the Assyrian army; some say their bodies and souls were both burnt, which these words seem to favour; and others, that their souls were burnt, and not their bodies, their lives were taken away, and their bodies unhurt; which they think is favoured by Isa 10:16 where it is said, "under his glory", and not "his glory" (p):
and they shall be as when a standardbearer fainteth; who when he fails, the whole company or army is thrown into confusion, and flees; and so the Targum,
"and he shall be broken, and flee.''
Some render it, "as the dust of the worm that eats wood" (q); so Jarchi; signifying that they should be utterly destroyed, and become as small as the dust that falls from a worm eaten tree; which simile is used, a forest being made mention of before.
(o) "ab anima usque ad carnem", V. L. Montanus, Piscator. (p) T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 113. 2. & Sanhedrin, fol 94. 1, 2. See Kimchi in loc. (q) "at pulvis teredinis", Tigurine version.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The light - That God who is and will…
The light - That God who is and will be a comfortable light to his people. A fire - To the Assyrians. Thorns - His vast army, which is no more able to resist God, than dry thorns and briars are to oppose the fire.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 17. And it shall burn and devour his…
Verse 17. And it shall burn and devour his thorns - "And he shall burn and consume his thorn."] The briers and thorns are the common people; the glory of his forest are the nobles and those of highest rank and importance. See Clarke on Isa 9:17, and compare Eze 20:47. The fire of God's wrath shall destroy them, both great and small; it shall consume them from the soul to the flesh; a proverbial expression; soul and body, as we say; it shall consume them entirely and altogether; and the few that escape shall be looked upon as having escaped from the most imminent danger; "as a firebrand plucked out of the fire," Am 4:11; ὡς δια πυρος, so as by fire, 1Co 3:15; as a man when a house is burning is forced to make his escape by running through the midst of the fire.
I follow here the reading of the Septuagint, כמאש נסס kemash noses, ὡς ὁ φευγων απω φλογος χαιομενης, as he who flees from the burning flame. Symmachus also renders the latter word by φευγων, flying.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain And the light of Israel - That is, Yahweh.…
And the light of Israel - That is, Yahweh. The word “light” here, אור 'ôr, is used also to denote a “fire,” or that which causes light and heat; see Eze 5:2; Isa 44:16; Isa 47:14. Here it is used in the same sense, denoting that Yahweh would be “the fire” אור 'ôr that would cause the “flame” (אשׁ 'êsh) which would consume the Assyrian. Jehovah is often compared to a burning flame, or fire; Deu 4:24; Deu 9:3; Heb 12:29.
Shall be for a fire - By his power and his judgment he shall destroy them.
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His Holy One - Israel’s Holy One; that is, Yahweh - often called in the Scriptures the Holy One of Israel.
And it shall burn - That is, the flame that Yahweh shall kindle, or his judgments that he shall send forth.
And devour his thorns and his briers - An expression denoting the utter impotency of all the mighty armies of the Assyrian to resist Yahweh. As dry thorns and briers cannot resist the action of heat, so certainly and speedily would the armies of Sennacherib be destroyed before Yahweh; compare the note at Isa 9:18. Lowth supposes, that by ‘briers and thorns’ here, the common soldiers of the army are intended, and by ‘the glory of his forest’ Isa 10:18, the princes, officers, and nobles. This is, doubtless, the correct interpretation; and the idea is, that all would be completely consumed and destroyed.
In one day - The army of Sennacherib was suddenly destroyed by the angel; see the notes at Isa 37:36.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Light. God. (Haydock) --- Thorns. Private soldiers. (Calmet)
Light. God. (Haydock) --- Thorns. Private soldiers. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain light of Israel--carrying out the image in the end…
light of Israel--carrying out the image in the end of Isa 10:16. Jehovah, who is a light to Israel, shall be the "fire" (Deu 4:24; Heb 12:29) that shall ignite the "thorns," (the Assyrians, like dry fuel, a ready prey to flame).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 17. The light of Israel — The word “light,”…
17. The light of Israel — The word “light,” means light, whether literal or figurative. Here it is figurative, and applies to God as the enlightener of Israel by his word and Spirit, and as having possible allusion to the pillar that guided Israel through the desert.
Shall be for a fire — While he is a “light” to Israel, he is a “fire” to Assyria.
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His Holy One for a flame — Israel’s “Holy One,” often called the Holy One of Israel.
Shall burn — This fire and flame shall fall in consuming judgment upon his thorns and his briers. (The Assyrian’s army so denoted.)
In one day — That is, very suddenly.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (17) And the light of Israel shall be for…
(17) And the light of Israel shall be for a fire.—The Divine glory, which is as a consuming fire (Isa_27:4) to the enemies of Israel, is to Israel itself as the very light of life. The “briars and thorns” (we note the recurrence of the combination of Isa_9:18) are the host of the Assyrian army (comp. 2Sa_23:6; Eze_2:6), as “the glory of his forest” in the next verse are the captains and princes. The emphatic “in one day” points to some great catastrophe, such as that which afterwards destroyed the army of Sennacherib.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The light of Israel. A new name of God.…
The light of Israel. A new name of God. The idea on which it is based may be found in the Psalms, (Psa_27:1 Psa_84:11) and again in Isaiah. (Isa_60:19) God enlightens his people, cheers them, comforts them spiritually, as the light of the sun enlightens, cheers, and comforts men physically. Christ, as true God, is "the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world". (Joh_1:9) Shall be for a fire. As the same material fire which gives light, warmth, and comfort may burn and destroy, so the spiritual light, finding fit material, scorches and consumes. The fire which devours Assyria is to be kindled by God. His Holy One; i.e. "the Holy One of Israel". (see Isa_1:4) It shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers. The destruction of Assyria shall resemble that of Israel, in which Assyria was the instrument. (Isa_9:18) It shall be as complete, as terrible, and as final. In one day. Scarcely "in one battle" (Cheyne); for the destruction of Assyria was effected by many battles, many sieges, and much exhausting ravage. "In one day" rather means "at one and the same time," "within a brief space." It is not to he taken literally.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain And the light of Israel shall be for a…
Isa_10:17
And the light of Israel shall be for a fire
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The light of Israel
A name of Jehovah, who was represented by the Shekinah glory.
(B. Blake, B. D.)
The collapse of the Assyrian enterprise
Isaiahs genius supplies him with a splendid figure under which to depict the collapse of the Assyrian enterprise. The serried battalions of Assyria appear to his imagination as the trees of some huge forest, irresistible in their strength and countless in their number; but the Light of Israel kindles majestically into a flame; and at the end of a single day a child may count them. (Prof. S. R. Driver, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain
Isaiah
LIGHT OR FIRE?
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Isa 10:17.
With grand poetry the prophet pictures the Assyrian power as a forest consumed like thistles and briers by the fire of God. The text suggests solemn truths about the divine Nature and its manifestations.
I. The Essential Character of God.
Light and Holiness are substantially parallel. Light symbolises purity, but also knowledge and joy. Holiness is Separation from Creatures, but chiefly from their Evils.
II. The Different Attitudes which Men assume to that Character.
‘Light of Israel’: ‘His Holy One.’
God becomes ours, and we have an interest in that radiant Personality if we choose to claim it by faith, love, and obedience. We are free to accept God as ours or to reject Him.
III. The Opposite Aspects which that Character accordingly assumes.
{a} The self-same divine Character has two effects according to the character of the beholder.
To those who respond to God’s love it is-heaven. To those who are indifferent or alienated it may be pain, and will harm them if they see it and do not yield to it.
God’s holiness is not retributive justice but moral perfectness, which to a good man will be joy, and to a bad man, intolerable.
The light which is gladsome to a healthy eye is agony to a diseased one.
{b} All the manifestations and operations of that divine Character have a twofold aspect. Christ is either a stone of stumbling or a sure foundation. Men are either the better or the worse for Him. The Gospel is the savour of life unto life or of death unto death. The tremendous ‘either-or.’ The Cross rejected harms the moral nature, hardens conscience, deepens condemnation.
All divine operations are necessarily on the side of God’s lovers and against those who love Him not. They are contrary to Him, therefore He is so to them. ‘With the froward Thou wilt show Thyself froward.’
The final Judgment will be either rapture or despair, like the coming of a bridegroom, or the fiery rain that burnt up Sodom.
The very dew of Heavenly Bliss would be corroding poison to a godless spirit.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 The light of Israel will become a fire
The light of Israel will become a fire
The phrase "light of Israel" refers to Yahweh. It is unclear whether Yahweh or Isaiah is speaking. AT: "I, Yahweh, the light of Israel, will become like a fire, able to destroy everyone that does not honor me" (See: Metaphor)
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his Holy One a flame
"I, Yahweh, the Holy one of Israel, will become like a flame." See how you translated "Holy One" in Isaiah 1:4.
it will burn and devour his thorns and briers
"The fire will burn and devour the king of Assyria's thorns and briars." The speaker compares the king of Assyria's army to thorns and briers. This emphasizes how easily God will destroy them. AT: "I will destroy the Assyrians like a fire burning thorns and briers" (See: Metaphor)
thorns ... briers
The words "briers" and "thorns" both refer to useless, thorny plants; they can be translated using one expression. See how you translated these words in Isaiah 7:23. AT: "thorn bushes" (See: Doublet)
Yahweh will consume the glory of his forest and of his fruitful land
Possible meaning are 1) "Yahweh will destroy the great forests and farmlands in the nation of Assyria" or 2) "Yahweh will destroy the army of Assyria as a fire burns up great forests and farmlands." (See: Metaphor)
both soul and body
Possible meanings are 1) this emphasizes that God will completely destroy the forests and farmlands. AT: "completely" or 2) this means God will completely destroy the people of Assyria. The phrase "soul and body" refers to the spiritual part and the physical part of a person. (See: Merism)
it will be like when a sick man's life wastes away
This compares either the forests and farmlands of Assyria or the army of Assyria to a sick man as he lies in bed dying. This emphasizes how something so great can become weak and dying. AT: "they will be like a sick man who grows weak and dies" (See: Simile)
The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few
"What remains of the trees in the king's forest will be so few"
translationWords
light
Israel
fire
Holy One
Yahweh
glory
soul
remnant
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.