“Because you have said, ‘We have made a covenant with death, and we are in agreement with Sheol. When the overflowing scourge passes through, it won’t come to us; for we have made lies our refuge, and we have hidden ourselves under falsehood.’ ”
Parallel Translations
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“Because you have said, ‘We have made a covenant with death, and we are in agreement with Sheol. When the overflowing scourge passes through, it won’t come to us; for we have made lies our refuge, and we have hidden ourselves under falsehood.’ ”
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Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
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Because ye have said: 'We have made a covenant with death, and with the nether-world are we at agreement; when the scouring scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us; for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood have we hid ourselves';
Cross-references (25)
Passages linked to Isaiah 28:15 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 8:7-8 now therefore, behold, the Lord brings upon them the mighty flood waters of the River: the king of Assyria and all his glory. It will come up over all its channels, and go over all its banks. It will sweep onward into Judah. It will overflow and pass through. It will reach even to the neck. The stretching out of its wings will fill the width of your land, Immanuel.
- Ecclesiastes 8:8 There is no man who has power over the spirit to contain the spirit; neither does he have power over the day of death. There is no discharge in war; neither shall wickedness deliver those who practice it.
- Isaiah 28:18 Your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol shall not stand. When the overflowing scourge passes through, then you will be trampled down by it.
- Jeremiah 5:31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority; and my people love to have it so. What will you do in the end of it?
- Ezekiel 13:22 Because with lies you have grieved the heart of the righteous, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, and be saved alive.
- Daniel 11:22 The overwhelming forces will be overwhelmed from before him, and will be broken. Yes, also the prince of the covenant.
- Hosea 2:18 In that day I will make a covenant for them with the animals of the field, and with the birds of the sky, and with the creeping things of the ground. I will break the bow, the sword, and the battle out of the land, and will make them lie down safely.
- Amos 2:4 Yahweh says: “For three transgressions of Judah, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they have rejected Yahweh’s law, and have not kept his statutes, and their lies have led them astray, after which their fathers walked;
- Job 5:23 For you will be allied with the stones of the field. The animals of the field will be at peace with you.
- Job 15:25-27 Because he has stretched out his hand against God, and behaves himself proudly against the Almighty, he runs at him with a stiff neck, with the thick shields of his bucklers, because he has covered his face with his fatness, and gathered fat on his thighs.
- Isaiah 5:18-19 Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, and wickedness as with cart rope, who say, “Let him make haste, let him hasten his work, that we may see it; let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know it!”
- Isaiah 9:15 The elder and the honorable man is the head, and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail.
- Isaiah 28:2 Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one. Like a storm of hail, a destroying storm, and like a storm of mighty waters overflowing, he will cast them down to the earth with his hand.
- Isaiah 29:15 Woe to those who deeply hide their counsel from Yahweh, and whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, “Who sees us?” and “Who knows us?”
- Isaiah 30:10 who tell the seers, “Don’t see!” and the prophets, “Don’t prophesy to us right things. Tell us pleasant things. Prophesy deceits.
- Isaiah 30:28 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.
- Jeremiah 14:13 Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Behold, the prophets tell them, ‘You will not see the sword, neither will you have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.’ ”
- Jeremiah 16:19 Yahweh, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the nations will come to you from the ends of the earth, and will say, “Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, vanity and things in which there is no profit.
- Jeremiah 28:15-17 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen, Hananiah! Yahweh has not sent you, but you make this people trust in a lie. Therefore Yahweh says, ‘Behold, I will send you away from off the surface of the earth. This year you will die, because you have spoken rebellion against Yahweh.’ ” So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.
- Jeremiah 44:17 But we will certainly perform every word that has gone out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then had we plenty of food, and were well, and saw no evil.
- Ezekiel 8:12 Then he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his rooms of imagery? For they say, ‘Yahweh doesn’t see us. Yahweh has forsaken the land.’ ”
- Ezekiel 13:16 to wit, the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace,’ ” says the Lord Yahweh.’ ”
- Jonah 2:8 Those who regard lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
- Zephaniah 1:12 It will happen at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are settled on their dregs, who say in their heart, “Yahweh will not do good, neither will he do evil.”
- 2 Thessalonians 2:9-11 even he whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deception of wickedness for those who are being lost, because they didn’t receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. Because of this, God sends them a working of error, that they should believe a lie;
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain They thought they had shifts to avoid God’s judgments,…
They thought they had shifts to avoid God’s judgments, and that they could escape though all others perished.
Though the prophets condemned their idols and vain trust of falsehood and vanity, yet the wicked thought in themselves that they would trust in these things.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 28:15 Because ye have said, We have made…
Isa 28:15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
Ver. 15. Because ye have said,] i.e., Ye have thought and reckoned so, but without your host, as they say; {Jer 6:19} Hear, O earth; behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts.
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We have made a covenant with death.] Nos ab omni male sumus secttrissimi: Thrasonicae hyperbolae - we are shot free, and shall escape scot free. Becket’s friends advised him, for his security, to have a mass in honour of St Stephen, to keep him from the hands of his enemies. He had so, but it saved him not, as not to have been dipped in Lethe Lake could save the son of Thetis from death, &c. {a}
And with hell are we at agreement.] Heb., We have made provision, or taken order, egimus cantum. The prophets tell us a tale of death and hell, but we shall yet dance upon their graves; and for hell, we fear it not. The lion is not so fierce as he is painted, nor the devil so black as he is represented. Diabolo optime convenit cum lurconibus. Good fellows shall have good quarter with the devil, say our modern atheists. But what a mad fellow was that advocate in the court of Rome, mentioned by Bellarmine, who, lying at his last gasp almost, and being called upon to repent and cry to God for mercy, prayed thus: O Lord, I have much desired to speak one word unto thee before I die, not for myself, but for my wife and children, ego enim propero ad inferos, neque est ut aliquid pro me agas, for I am hasting to hell; neither is there anything to be done by thee for me. And this he spoke, saith Bellarmine, {b} who was by and heard it, with as much confidence as if he were but travelling to the next town.
When the overflowing scourge shall pass through.] To sweep away such as are drowned in drunkenness, and dread no danger.
It shall not come to us.] Whatever the prophets prate; let them say as they please, we will believe as we list.
For we have made lies our refuge.] A poor refuge; for, tenue mendaciam pellucet, lies are so thin, they may be seen through; but it may be that they called their false refuges lies, not because they held them so, but because the prophets called them so, whereas to themselves they seemed prudent counsels.
{a} Spencer.
{b} De Arte Mor., lib. ii. cap. 10.
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 Because ye have said in your hearts,
Because ye have said in your hearts,
We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; we are as safe from death, and hell, or the grave, as if they had entered into covenant with us, that they would not invade us. The word rendered hell most commonly signifies the grave; which also seems most proper in this place, that so the same thing may be repeated in. other words, as is most usual in prophetical writings.
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The overflowing scourge; the judgment of God, Which is called a scourge, for its sharpness and severity; and overflowing, for its universality; two differing metaphors being joined together; which is not unusual, both in Scripture and in other authors. Shall pass through, to wit, the land.
We have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves; we shall secure ourselves by lying and dissimulation, by compliance with our enemies, and with their religion too, if it be necessary, and many crafty devices. Or by lies and falsehood he means their riches and strength, to which they trusted, to which he giveth these titles, not that they called or thought them such, but that he might signify what they really were, and would appear to be: See Poole "Pro 1:11".
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 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD,.... In order to…
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD,.... In order to show what is the true foundation of hope and trust for security from death and hell, and to convince men of their vain and false confidence, as well as to comfort the people of God, such as truly feared him in Jerusalem; who, bearing the judgment denounced, might conclude that they were going to be cut off from being a nation, and that the family and kingdom of David would be at an end, and then where was the promise of the Messiah? wherefore, to relieve the minds of such, a promise of him is delivered out in the midst of a denunciation of judgment upon the wicked:
Behold, (a note of attention and admiration, as well as asseveration,)
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I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone; which the Targum interprets of a king; and Jarchi of the King Messiah, who undoubtedly is meant, as is clear from Rom 9:33 and not Hezekiah, as Kimchi, and others, who was now king, when this prophecy was made, and therefore cannot respect him; but Christ, who is frequently spoken of, under the simile of a stone, Gen 49:24 and may be compared to one for his usefulness in the spiritual building, being both foundation and cornerstone, and for his great strength and durableness; and this is a stone of the Lord's laying, which he had been laying in his eternal purposes and decrees, as the Mediator, Saviour, and Redeemer of his people; and whom he was about to lay, by sending him forth, in the fulness of time, to be incarnate, suffer, and die for them: and whom he lays as the foundation in the effectual calling of his people, to build their faith and hope upon; and this is done in Zion, in the church, which is built upon him, and where he is revealed and made known to be what he is, and as here described:
a tried stone; by the Old Testament saints, and by saints in all ages, who have ventured their souls on him, and laid the whole stress of their salvation upon him, and have been saved by him; and by Satan, and his principalities and powers, by his temptations of him in the wilderness, and by his attacks upon him in the garden, and on the cross, and found him to be an immovable stone, and were broken by him; and by his divine Father, who tried his faithfulness by trusting him with all his elect, and the salvation of them; and his great strength, by laying upon him all their sins, and the punishment due unto them. Some render it, "a stone of trial", or "a trying stone" (t); by which men are tried, and discovered to be what they are, whether believers or unbelievers, sincere Christians or hypocrites; which may be known by their conduct and behaviour to Christ; if they come to him as a living stone, and he is precious to them, they are true believers; but if he is to them a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, they are unbelievers, and reprobate persons, Pe1 2:4,
a precious corner stone; which, as it is both for the beauty and strength of the building, so it knits, cements, and keeps the parts together; and of this use is Christ in the spiritual building; angels and men are knit together in him, Jews and Gentiles, Old and New Testament saints, saints above and saints below, saints in all ages, times, and places: and a "precious" stone he is, a pearl of great price; precious to his Father, who loves him, and delights in him, and has chosen and laid him as the foundation of his church, and of every true believer; to whom also he is precious, his person, names, offices, and relations, his blood, righteousness, and sacrifice, his word, ordinances, and people, and everything belonging to him:
a sure foundation; a well founded one (u); which will never give way; a rock on which the church is built, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it; a sure foundation of faith and hope, of peace, joy, and comfort, and of eternal happiness, to all that build upon it; a foundation firm and strong, immovable and everlasting; and so is every thing that is laid or depends upon it, the covenant of grace, and the promises of it, the persons of the Lord's people, and their salvation:
he that believeth; either those things, as the Targum adds, this promise and prophecy, and the things contained therein; or in Christ, the foundation laid, the tried and precious cornerstone, so it is explained in Pe1 2:6,
shall not make haste; or be impatient for the fulfilment of this prophecy, but patiently wait for it, knowing that it is for an appointed time, and will not tarry; and that God will hasten it in his own time; or will not make haste to lay any other foundation, being satisfied with this that is laid; nor make haste to a strange god, to another Saviour, knowing there is salvation in him, and in no other. The Targum is,
"shall not be moved when trouble comes;''
being founded upon this Rock of ages, which is proof against all storms and tempests; see Mat 7:24. The Apostles Paul and Peter, agreeably to the Septuagint version, render it, "shall not be ashamed", or "confounded"; See Gill on Rom 9:33, Pe1 2:6.
(t) "lapidem probationis", Junius & Tremellius, Calvin, Vitringa. (u) "fundamentum fundatum"; so some in Vatablus; "fundationem fundatissimam", Junius & Tremellius; "fundamentum solidum", Calvin; "solidissimum" Tigurine version; So Ben Melech interprets it a strong foundation.
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 Said - In your hearts. We - We are…
Said - In your hearts. We - We are as safe from death, and hell, or the grave, as if they had entered into covenant with us. The scourge - The judgment of God. Through - The land. For - We shall secure ourselves by lying and dissimulation.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 15. A covenant with death] To be in…
Verse 15. A covenant with death] To be in covenant with, is a kind of proverbial expression to denote perfect security from evil and mischief of any sort: -
"For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field;
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And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee."
Job 5:23.
"And I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of
the field.
And with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things
of the ground."
Ho 2:18.
That is, none of these shall hurt them. But Lucan, speaking of the Psylli, whose peculiar property it was to be unhurt by the bite of serpents, with which their country abounded, comes still nearer to the expression of Isaiah in this place: -
Gens unica terras
Incolit a saevo serpentum innoxia morsu
Marmaridae Psylli.__
Pax illis cum morte data est.
Pharsal. ix. 891.
"Of all who scorching Afric's sun endure,
None like the swarthy Psyllians are secure:
With healing gifts and privileges graced,
Well in the land of serpents were they placed:
Truce with the dreadful tyrant death they have,
And border safely on his realm the grave."
ROWE.
We have made a covenant with death and with hell are we at agreement] עשינו חזה asinu chozeh, we have made a vision, we have had an interview, struck a bargain, and settled all preliminaries. So they had made a covenant with hell by diabolic sacrifice, כרתנו ברית carathnu berith. "We have cut the covenant sacrifice;" they divided it for the contracting parties to pass between the separated victim; for the victim was split exactly down the middle, so that even the spinal marrow was exactly divided through its whole length; and being set opposite to each other, the contracting parties entered, one at the head part, the other at the feet; and, meeting in the centre, took the covenant oath. Thus, it is intimated, these bad people made an agreement with שאול sheol, with demons, with whom they had an interview; i.e., meeting them in the covenant sacrifice! To such a pitch had the Israelitish idolatry reached at that time!
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain We have made a covenant with death - We…
We have made a covenant with death - We are not to suppose that they had formally said this, but that their conduct was as if they had said it; they lived as securely as if they had entered into a compact with death not to destroy them, and with hell not to devour them. The figure is a very bold one, and is designed to express the extraordinary stupidity of the nation. It is most strikingly descriptive of the great mass of people. They are as little anxious about death and hell as if they had made a compact with the king of terrors and the prince of darkness not to destroy them. They are as little moved by the appeals of the gospel, by the alarms of God’s providence, by the preaching of his word, and by all the demonstrations that they are exposed to eternal death, as though they had proved that there was no hell, or had entered into a solemn covenant that they should be unmolested. A figure similar to this occurs in Job 5:23 :
For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field;
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And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.
Compare Hos 2:18.
And with hell - Hebrew, ‘Sheol’ - the land of shades, or of departed spirits (see the note at Isa 5:14). It is nearly synonymous here with death.
When the overflowing scourge shall pass through - There is here, in our translation, a little confusion of metaphor, since we speak usually of an overflowing “stream,” and not of an overflowing “scourge.” The word ‘scourge’ (שׁיט shayiṭ) means usually “a whip, a scourge,” the same as שׁוט shôṭ, and then means any punishment or calamity (see the note at Isa 10:26; compare Job 9:23; Job 5:21. Here its means severe judgments or calamities, as overflowing like water, or inundating a people.
We have made lies ... - That is, they acted as if they had a safe refuge in falsehood. They sought security in false doctrines, and regarded themselves as safe from all that the prophets had denounced.
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 Protected. Their conduct spoke this language. They would not…
Protected. Their conduct spoke this language. They would not fail to make alliances with Egypt, and to trust in idols, whatever the prophets might say to dissuade them. (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 said--virtually, in your conduct, if not in words.
said--virtually, in your conduct, if not in words.
covenant--There may be a tacit reference to their confidence in their "covenant" with the Assyrians in the early part of Hezekiah's prosperous reign, before he ceased to pay tribute to them, as if it ensured Judah from evil, whatever might befall the neighboring Ephraim (Isa 28:1). The full meaning is shown by the language ("covenant with death--hell," or sheol) to apply to all lulled in false security spiritually (Psa 12:4; Ecc 8:8; Jer 8:11); the godly alone are in covenant with death (Job 5:23; Hos 2:18; Co1 3:22).
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overflowing scourge--two metaphors: the hostile Assyrian armies like an overwhelming flood.
pass through--namely, through Judea on their way to Egypt, to punish it as the protector of Samaria (Kg2 17:4).
lies--They did not use these words, but Isaiah designates their sentiments by their true name (Amo 2:4).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (15) We have made a covenant with death .…
(15) We have made a covenant with death . . .—The phrase was a proverbial one. (Comp. Job_5:23; Hos_2:18.) Cheyne quotes Lucan, ix. 394, Pax illis cum morte data est (They have made peace with death”). “Hell” is the Hebrew Sheol (Hades), the region of the dead. The two are joined together, as in Hos_13:14; Rev_20:13-14.
When the overflowing scourge . . .—The words probably implied a sneer at the imagery which the prophet had used, painting the Assyrian invasion first as a flood (Isa_8:7-8), and then as a scourge (Isa_10:24). (Comp, Isa_28:2.) The scorners think that their “lies” will give them a refuge from the danger under either form.
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 We have made a covenant with death. (comp. Job_5:23…
We have made a covenant with death. (comp. Job_5:23 Hos_2:18) The words are a boast, expressed somewhat enigmatically, that they have secured their own safety by some secret agreement. The exact nature of the agreement they are disinclined to divulge. With hell are we at agreement. A synonymous parallelism," merely strengthening the previous assertion. When the overflowing scourge shall pass through. Assyrian invasion has been compared to a "flood", (Isa_8:7 Isa_28:2) and to a "rod" or "staff" in Isa_10:24. Here the two metaphors are joined together. It shall not come to us. Some means will be found what, they do not say, either for diverting the flood, or for stemming it. For we have made lies our refuge. Here the Divine reporter departs from the language of those whose words he is reporting, and substitutes his own estimate of the true nature and true value of that "refuge" on which they placed such entire reliance. It appears Isa_30:1-7 and Isa_36:6-9 that that refuge was Egypt. Now, Egypt was a "bruised reed," not to be depended on for keeping her engagements. To trust in her was to put confidence in "lies" and "falsehood."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain Heb. "Sheol," (See Scofield "Hab 2:5")
hell
Heb. "Sheol," (See Scofield "Hab 2:5")
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 28:15 cheat death (literally have made a covenant with…
28:15 cheat death (literally have made a covenant with death) . . . dodge the grave: There are two interpretive possibilities: (1) The people had sold themselves to the Canaanite god of death, Mot, in return for his supposed protection. (2) The prophet was being sarcastic; the people thought their various political and economic moves guaranteed their personal security, but they had actually destroyed themselves. • lies and deception: The leaders did not think of themselves as deceptive, but they were.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.