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.
Parallel Translations
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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.
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Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
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Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, with His anger burning, and in thick uplifting of smoke; His lips are full of indignation, and His tongue is as a devouring fire;
Cross-references (17)
Passages linked to Isaiah 30:27 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:8 Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will kill with the breath of his mouth, and destroy by the manifestation of his coming;
- Deuteronomy 32:22 For a fire is kindled in my anger, that burns to the lowest Sheol, devours the earth with its increase, and sets the foundations of the mountains on fire.
- Deuteronomy 33:2 He said, “Yahweh came from Sinai, and rose from Seir to them. He shone from Mount Paran. He came from the ten thousands of holy ones. At his right hand was a fiery law for them.
- Psalms 18:7-9 Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations also of the mountains quaked and were shaken, because he was angry. Smoke went out of his nostrils. Consuming fire came out of his mouth. Coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down. Thick darkness was under his feet.
- Psalms 79:5 How long, Yahweh? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire?
- Isaiah 9:5 For all the armor of the armed man in the noisy battle, and the garments rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.
- Isaiah 10:5 Alas Assyrian, the rod of my anger, the staff in whose hand is my indignation!
- Isaiah 10:16-17 Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, will send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory a burning will be kindled like the burning of fire. 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.
- Isaiah 33:12 The peoples will be like the burning of lime, like thorns that are cut down and burned in the fire.
- Isaiah 34:9 Its streams will be turned into pitch, its dust into sulfur, And its land will become burning pitch.
- Isaiah 59:19 So they will fear Yahweh’s name from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun; for he will come as a rushing stream, which Yahweh’s breath drives.
- Isaiah 66:14 You will see it, and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones will flourish like the tender grass. Yahweh’s hand will be known among his servants; and he will have indignation against his enemies.
- Lamentations 1:12-13 “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look, and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow, which is brought on me, with which Yahweh has afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. “From on high has he sent fire into my bones, and it prevails against them. He has spread a net for my feet. He has turned me back. He has made me desolate and I faint all day long.
- Daniel 7:9 “I watched until thrones were placed, and one who was ancient of days sat. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool. His throne was fiery flames, and its wheels burning fire.
- 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.
- Zephaniah 3:8 “Therefore wait for me”, says Yahweh, “until the day that I rise up to the prey, for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour on them my indignation, even all my fierce anger, for all the earth will be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.
- Hebrews 12:29 for our God is a consuming fire.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (19 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain This threatening is against the Assyrians the chief enemies…
This threatening is against the Assyrians the chief enemies of the people of God.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 30:27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh…
Isa 30:27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning [with] his anger, and the burden [thereof is] heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
Ver. 27. Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from far.] That is, an angel cometh from heaven to destroy the Assyrians: or, The name of the Lord, that is, Maiestas Dei nominatissimi, the glorious and renowned God himself.
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Burning with anger.] Or, At the nose, which burneth with a grievous flame.
His lips are full of indignation, and his tongue, &c.] Est pulchra hypotyposis irae Dei, a gallant description of God’s anger, which yet is nothing else but his most just will to punish sin. These things and the like are spoken concerning God ανθρωποπαθως, and must be understood Yεοπρεπως. Rash anger, as it dispossesseth a man of his soul, wit, and reason, so it disfigureth his body with firiness of the eyes, inflammation of the face, stammering of the tongue, gnashing of the teeth, a very harsh and hateful intension of the voice, &c. Hence angry men were counselled, in the heat of their fit, to look themselves in a glass, &c. God is here brought in as thus angry, more humano. Let us take heed how we provoke him to wrath:
“Sχετλιε, τιπτ εθελεις ερεθιζεμεν αγριον ανδρα.”
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 Here begins the last part of the chapter, wherein…
Here begins the last part of the chapter, wherein he gives them an earnest of those greater mercies promised for times to come, by assuring them of the approaching destruction of the Assyrian forces.
The name of the Lord; the Lord himself: for as the names of men are oft put for the men themselves, as Num 26:53 Act 1:15; Rev 3:4; 11:13; so the name of God is frequently put for God, as Gen 4:26; Deu 28:58; Psa 20:1,7, &c.
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Cometh from far; from a very remote place, even from heaven, whence God sent his angel to destroy them, Isa 37:36. Possibly this expression may respect the judgment of the Assyrians, who looked upon God as one afar off, not only in his presence, which they thought to be confined to heaven, but in his care of and affections to the Jews; and therefore no more expected any opposition from him than from them who live in the ends of the earth.
The burden thereof is heavy; he will inflict heavy judgments upon them.
His lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire; he hath pronounced a severe sentence against them, and will give command for the execution of it.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain This terrible prediction of the ruin of the Assyrian…
This terrible prediction of the ruin of the Assyrian army, though it is a threatening to them, is part of the promise to the Israel of God, that God would not only punish the Assyrians for the mischief they had done to the Israel of God, but would disable and deter them from doing the like again; and this prediction, which would now shortly be accomplished, would ratify and confirm the foregoing promises, which should be accomplished in the latter days. Here is,
I. God Almighty angry, and coming forth in anger against the Assyrians. He is here introduced in all the power and all the terror of his wrath, Isa 30:27. The name of Jehovah, which the Assyrians disdain and set at a distance from them, as if they were out of its reach and it could do them no harm, behold, it comes from far. A messenger in the name of the Lord comes from as far off as heaven itself. He is a messenger of wrath, burning with his anger. God's lips are full of indignation at the blasphemy of Rabshakeh, who compared the God of Israel with the gods of the heathen; his tongue is as a devouring fire, for he can speak his proud enemies to ruin; his very breath comes with as much force as an overflowing stream, and with it he shall slay the wicked, Isa 11:4. He does not stifle or smother his resentments, as men do theirs when they are either causeless or impotent; but he shall cause his glorious voice to be heard when he proclaims war with an enemy that sets him at defiance, Isa 30:30. He shall display the indignation of his anger, anger in the highest degree; it shall be as the flame of a devouring fire, which carries and consumes all before it, with lightning or dissipation, and with tempest and hailstones, all which are the formidable phenomena of nature, and therefore expressive of the terror of the Almighty God of nature.
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II. The execution done by this anger of the Lord. Men are often angry when they can only threaten and talk big; but when God causes his glorious voice to be heard that shall not be all: he will show the lighting down of his arm too, Isa 30:30. The operations of his providence shall accomplish the menaces of his word. Those that would not see the lifting up of his arm (Isa 26:11) shall feel the lighting down of it, and find, to their cost, that the burden thereof is heavy (Isa 30:27), so heavy that they cannot bear it, nor bear up against it, but must unavoidably sink and be crushed under it. Who knows the power of his anger or imagines what an offended God can do? Five things are here prepared for the execution: - 1. Here is an overflowing stream, that shall reach to the midst of the neck, shall quite overwhelm the whole body of the army, and Sennacherib only, the head of it, shall keep above water and escape this stroke, while yet he is reserved for another in the house of Nisroch his god. The Assyrian army had been to Judah as an overflowing stream, reaching even to the neck (Isa 8:7, Isa 8:8), and now the breath of God's wrath will be so to it. 2. Here is a sieve of vanity, with which God would sift those nations of which the Assyrian army was composed, Isa 30:28. The great God can sift nations, for they are all before him as the small dust of the balance; he will sift them, not to gather out of them any that should be preserved, but so as to shake them one against another, put them into great consternation, and shake them all away at last; for it is a sieve of vanity (which retains nothing) that they are shaken with, and they are found all chaff. 3. Here is a bridle, which God has in their jaws, to curb and restrain them from doing the mischief they would do, and to force and constrain them to serve his purposes against their own will, Isa 10:7. God particularly says of Sennacherib (Isa 37:29) that he will put a hook in his nose and a bridle in his lips. It is a bridle causing them to err, forcing them to such methods as will certainly be destructive to themselves and their interest and in which they will be infatuated. God with a word guides his people into the right way (Isa 30:21), but with a bridle he turns his enemies headlong upon their own ruin. 4. Here is a rod and a staff, even the voice of the Lord, his word giving orders concerning it, with which the Assyrian shall be beaten down, Isa 30:31. The Assyrian had been himself a rod in God's hand for the chastising of his people, and had smitten them, Isa 10:5. That was a transient rod; but against the Assyrian shall go forth a grounded staff, that shall give a steady blow, shall stick close to him and strike home, so as to leave an impression upon him. It is a staff with a foundation, founded upon the enemies' deserts and God's determinate counsel. It is a consumption determined (Isa 10:23), and therefore there is no escaping it, no getting out of the reach of it; it shall pass in every place where an Assyrian is found, and the Lord shall lay it upon him, and cause it to rest, Isa 30:32. Such is the woeful case of those that persist in enmity to God: the wrath of God abides on them. 5. Here is Tophet ordained and prepared for them, Isa 30:33. The valley of the son of Hinnom, adjoining to Jerusalem, was called Tophet. In that valley, it is supposed, many of the Assyrian regiments lay encamped, and were there slain by the destroying angel; or there the bodies of those that were so slain were burned. Hezekiah had lately, and from yesterday (so the word is) ordained it; that is, say some, he had cleared it of the images that were set up in it, to which they there burnt their children, and so prepared it to be a receptacle for the dead bodies of their enemies, for the king of Assyria (that is, for his army) it is prepared, and there is fuel enough ready to burn them all; and they shall be consumed as suddenly and effectually as if the fire were kept burning by a continual stream of brimstone, for such the breath of the Lord, his word and his wrath, will be to it. Now as the prophet, in the foregoing promises, slides insensibly into the promises of gospel graces and comforts, so here, in the threatening of the ruin of Sennacherib's army, he points at the final and everlasting destruction of all impenitent sinners. Our Saviour calls the future misery of the damned Gehenna, in allusion to the valley of Hinnom, which gives some countenance to the applying of this to that misery, as also that in the Apocalypse it is so often called the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. This is said to be prepared of old for the devil and his angels, for the greatest of sinners, the proudest, and that think themselves not accountable to any for what they say and do; even for kings it is prepared. It is deep and large, sufficient to receive the world of the ungodly; the pile thereof is fire and much wood. God's wrath is the fire, and sinners make themselves fuel to it; and the breath of the Lord (the power of his anger) kindles it, and will keep it ever burning. See Isa 66:24. Wherefore stand in awe and sin not.
III. The great joy which this should occasion to the people of God. The Assyrian's fall is Jerusalem's triumph (Isa 30:29): You shall have a song as in the night, a psalm of praise such as those sing who by night stand in the house of the Lord, and sing to his glory who gives songs in the night. It shall not be a song of vain mirth, but a sacred song, such as was sung when a holy solemnity was kept in a grave and religious manner. Our joy in the fall of the church's enemies must be a holy joy, gladness of heart, as when one goes, with a pipe (such as the sons of the prophets used when they prophesied, Sa1 10:5), to the mountain of the Lord, there to celebrate the praises of the Mighty One of Israel. Nay, in every place where the divine vengeance shall pursue the Assyrians they shall not only fall unlamented, but all their neighbours shall attend their fall with tabrets and harps, pleased to see how God, in battles of shaking, such as shake them out of the world, fights with them (Isa 30:32); for when the wicked perish there is shouting; and it is with a particular satisfaction that wise and good men see the ruin of those who, like the Assyrians, have insolently bidden defiance to God and trampled upon all mankind.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from far,....…
Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from far,.... From hence to the end of the chapter Isa 30:28 is a very full account, by way of prophecy, of the destruction of the Assyrian army by the Lord; and which is to be considered as a type of the destruction of antichrist, by and at the coming of the Lord Jesus. It is introduced with a "behold", as declaring something of moment and importance worthy of attention, and even wonderful. "The name of the Lord" is the Lord himself; unless it is to be understood of the angel that came in the name of the Lord, and destroyed Sennacherib's army; who may be said to come "from far", because he came from heaven; and from whence Christ the Angel uncreated, in whom the name of the Lord is, will come to judge the world, and to take vengeance on all his and his people's enemies, antichrist and all his followers:
burning with his anger; against the Assyrian monarch and his army. So our Lord, when he shall come forth to make war with the antichristian kings of the earth, his "eyes" shall be "as a flame of fire": and when he comes to judge the world, he will descend in "flaming fire", Rev 19:12 the day of the Lord will burn as an oven, Mal 4:1,
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and the burden thereof is heavy: the punishment inflicted, in his burning anger and hot displeasure, will be heavy, even intolerable, heavier than it can be borne, as the Targum paraphrases it; see Gen 4:13,
his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire; the words he will utter, the sentence he will pronounce, will be dreadful, executed by the angel; so the sharp sword that goes out of the mouth of Christ, with which he will smite the nations; and such the awful sentence pronounced by him on the wicked, "go, ye cursed, into everlasting fire", &c. see Rev 19:15. So the Targum,
"from before him goes out the curse upon the ungodly, and his Word as a consuming fire.''
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 Behold - Here he gives them an earnest of…
Behold - Here he gives them an earnest of those greater mercies in times to come, by assuring them of the approaching destruction of the Assyrian forces. The name - The Lord himself. From far - From a remote place: even from heaven. Heavy - He will inflict heavy judgments upon them. Indignation - He hath pronounced a severe sentence against them, and will give command for the execution of it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 27. And the burden thereof is heavy -…
Verse 27. And the burden thereof is heavy - "And the flame raged violently"] משאה massaah; this word seems to be rightly rendered in our translation, the flame, Jdg 20:38; Jdg 20:40, c. a sign of fire, Jer 6:1; called properly משאת masseeth, an elevation, from its tending upwards.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Isa 30:27-28. Behold, &c. — Here begins the last…
Isa 30:27-28. Behold, &c. — Here begins the last part of the discourse contained in this chapter, in which the prophet gives an earnest of those greater blessings promised, for times to come, by assuring his people of the approaching destruction of the Assyrian forces. “It is an exquisitely fine and sublime passage, and closely connected with the argument and scope of the whole discourse, in that it teaches that the Jews and Israelites had no need to flee to Egypt for help against the Assyrians, to the neglect of their duty toward God, since God was perfectly sufficient to defend them, and had determined to destroy the Assyrian.” — Vitringa. The name of the Lord is here put for the Lord himself, and he is said to come from far, either as coming unexpectedly, or as having for a long time appeared to withdraw his presence, and withhold his help from his people; burning with anger — Determined to take signal vengeance on his enemies. And the burden thereof is heavy — The punishment which he will inflict will prove very grievous and intolerable. His lips are full of indignation — He hath pronounced a severe sentence against them, and will give command for the execution of it. And his breath — His anger, or rather, the effects thereof; (the expression is borrowed from men’s discovering their anger by strong and vehement breathing; see on Job 4:9;) as an overflowing stream — Coming from him as vehemently as a mighty torrent of waters; shall reach to the midst of the neck — Shall bring the Assyrian into a most dangerous condition, as a man, who is in waters which reach to his neck, is in great danger of being drowned; see on Isa 8:8. To sift the nations with the sieve of vanity — To shake and scatter, as it were, with a sieve, the Assyrian army, made up of the people of different nations. “Vanity,” says Lowth, “sometimes signifies destruction: so Isa 57:13. Vanity shall take them, that is, they shall be destroyed. And here the sieve of vanity is such a one as doth not separate the chaff in order to save the corn, but makes an entire riddance, as when chaff is scattered before the wind.” Bishop Lowth translates the clause, To toss the nations with the van of perdition, judging that נפהrather signifies a van than a sieve, and observing from Kimchi, “The use of the van is to cleanse the corn from the chaff and straw: but the van with which God will winnow the nations, will be the van of emptiness or perdition; for nothing useful shall remain behind, but all shall come to nothing, and perish. In like manner a bridle is designed to guide the horse in the right way; but the bridle which God will put in the jaws of the people, shall not direct them aright, but shall make them err, and lead them into destruction.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Behold, the name of the Lord cometh - (compare…
Behold, the name of the Lord cometh - (compare the notes at Isa 19:1). The verses following, to the end of the chapter, are designed evidently to describe the destruction of the army of Sennacherib. This is expressly declared in Isa 30:31, and all the circumstances in the prediction accord with that event. There is no necessity of supposing that this is the commencement of a new prophecy, for it is connected with the main subject in the previous part of the chapter. The whole prophecy was composed evidently in view of that threatened invasion. In the apprehension of that, they sought the aid of Egypt Isa 30:1-6, for that, the prophet denounces judgment on them (Isa 30:8 ff); in view of these judgments, however, he promises a more happy state Isa 30:18-26; and now, in the close of the chapter, in order to deter them from the alliance, he assures them that, without any foreign aid, the Assyrian would be destroyed by Yahweh himself. The phrase ‘name of Yahweh,’ is probably another mode of designating Yahweh himself; as the name of God is often put for God himself (see Act 3:6-7, Act 3:12, 30; Act 4:10; 1Co 1:10). The idea is, that the destruction of the Assyrian hosts would be accomplished by the immediate power of Yahweh himself without any need of the aid of the Egyptian or of any foreign alliances.
From afar - That is, from heaven (compare the note at Isa 19:1).
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Burning with his anger - Or, rather, his anger is enkindled.
And the burden thereof - Margin, ‘Grievousness of flame.’ Lowth renders it, ‘The flame rageth violently.’ Noyes, ‘Violent is the flame.’ The Septuagint renders it, ‘A burning wrath’ The word משׂאה mas'â'âh, from נשׂא nâs'â' “to bear, lift up, carry,” means properly a lifting up Psa 141:2; a burden Zep 3:18; then a mounting up, particularly of a flame or smoke in a conflagration Jdg 20:38. This seems to be the idea here, that the anger of God would be like a heavy, dark column of mingled smoke and flame bursting out, and rising up over a city.
His lips are full of indignation - All this language is of course figurative, and means that he would issue a command to destroy the Assyrians, or that they would be destroyed in such a manner as most effectively to exhibit his displeasure.
And his tongue as a devouring fire - That is, he shall issue a command that shall destroy like a raging and devouring fire.
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 Name. Majesty of God, (Calmet) in the future ages.…
Name. Majesty of God, (Calmet) in the future ages. (Haydock)
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).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain 27 Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from…
5. THE MUSIC OF THE WORLD’S JUDGMENT
Isa_30:27-33
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27 Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from far,
Burning with his anger, 23and the burden thereof Isaiah 24 heavy;
His lips are full of indignation,
And his tongue as a devouring fire:
28 And his breath, as an overflowing stream,
Shall reach to the midst of the neck,
To sift the nations with the sieve of vanity:
And there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people,
Causing them to err.
29 Ye shall have a song, as in the night
When a holy solemnity is kept;
And gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe
To come into the mountain of the Lord,
To the 25mighty One of Israel.
30 And the Lord shall cause 26his glorious voice to be heard,
And shall show the lighting down of his arm,
With the indignation of his anger,
And with the flame of a devouring fire,
With scattering, and tempest, and hailstones.
31 For through the voice of the Lord
Shall the Assyrian be beaten down,
27Which smote with a rod.
32 And 2829in every place where the grounded staff shall pass,
Which the Lord shall 30lay upon him,
It shall be with tabrets and harps;
And in battles of shaking will he fight 31with it.
33 For 32Tophet is ordained 33of old;
Yea, for the king it is prepared;
He hath made it deep, and large,
The pile thereof is fire and much wood;
The breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone,
Doth kindle it.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Isa_30:28. הֲנָפָה for (הָנִיף) Isa_10:15 is a verbal noun used as an infinitive. Comp. Est_2:18.
Isa_30:32. Instead of בָּהּ which we must refer to the land of Assyria, the K’ri has the preferable reading בָּם.
Isa_30:33. The reading of the K’ri היא has probably arisen through the attempt to produce a conformity with the feminine suffix in מְדֻרָתָהּ .
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. The Prophet sees the Lord appear with all His attributes as Judge, and the nations brought to Him as beasts compelled by the bridle to come to be destroyed (Isa_30:27-28). Meanwhile Israel’s song is heard as the rejoicing at a festival (Isa_30:29). Then Jehovah’s majestic voice sounds forth, and His arm is seen to descend to strike (Isa_30:30). It is Assyria that stands trembling before Him and receives the strokes (Isa_30:31), and every stroke is inflicted with the music of tabrets and harps, to which the sound of the heavy blows forms as it were the accompaniment (Isa_30:32). This is the immolation of Assyria, as we see from the broad and deep place of burning which is prepared with a huge pyre, which the breath of the Lord, as a brook of burning brimstone, will kindle in order to consume the slaughtered victim Assyria, i. e., the worldly power (Isa_30:33).
2. Behold the name—to err. Isa_30:27-28. The name of Jehovah that comes from far to judgment is not a mere word, nor does it stand simply for God Himself, but it is a manifestation of Deity in which He reveals His holy and righteous nature and His almighty majesty for the purpose of judgment. We have here to refer to Exo_23:21, where the Lord declares of His angel: my name is in him;—and to all those places where it is said that the name of Jehovah dwells in His holy temple; and, lastly, to places such as Psa_75:2 where we read “Thy name is near.” The name of Jehovah that comes to judgment is a person. It is He who is the Agent in every revelation of the Godhead, and accordingly He to whom the Father has committed all judgment (Joh_5:22; Act_17:31; Rom_14:10; et saepe). The name of God comes from far, because He comes from heaven (Psa_138:6). But as far as the eye can reach He is seen. His appearance is like a tempest. בער אפִו recalls Psa_2:12. וכבד משׂאה supply ( הָיָה .משׂאה) is lifting up, and according to Jdg_20:38 of smoke. It occurs only here. זַעַם foam, foaming rage, (Isa_10:5; Isa_10:25; Isa_13:5; Isa_26:20). אשׁ אכלת occurs Exo_24:17; Deu_4:24; Deu_9:3; hence in Joe_2:5 and Isa_29:6; Isa_30:27; Isa_30:30; Isa_33:14. It has been rightly remarked that two images—that of a tempest and that of a raging man—are here blended. The Lord moves along in His wrath like an overflowing brook which divides (יחצה) the man who has fallen into it into two unequal parts, only the smaller appearing above the water (Isa_8:8). He sifts the people with the sieve (נָפָהἅπ. λεγ.) of emptiness,i. e., a sieve Which lets the light, useless grain fall through it. [This explanation is not natural. The sieve of vanity, or emptiness, or destruction is so-called as marking the result of the sifting, a reduction to nothingness.—D. M.]. The Lord comes as Judge. The nations are brought to Him against their will. A bridle is put into their jaws which compels them to go from the way which they intended רסן מתעה the expression only here, התעה in Isa_3:12; Isa_9:15; Isa_19:13 sq.: Isa_63:17).
3. Ye shall have a song—Israel. Isa_30:29. The Prophet marks by the article before שִׁיר the customary solemn festal song. לָכֶם is the dat. commodi. The night when the festival is kept or consecrated is the night from the fourteenth to the fifteenth of the month Nisan, the night in which the paschal lamb was eaten amid solemn songs; for this was the only festival which was celebrated at night. On the fifteenth the feast of unleavened bread began, to which the passover served as an introductory dedication. Israel’s preservation in the night when the destroying angel smote the host of Sennacherib (Isa_37:36 sqq.) can be regarded as one, but not the only one, of the events which Isaiah had here in his eye. The Prophet comprehends in the section Isa_30:27-33, all that is future, as he had done in the parallel section Isa_30:19-26. הִתֲקַדֵּשׁ is vox solemnis for the consecration preparatory to the festival (Exo_19:22; Num_11:18; Jos_3:5; Jos_7:13 et saepe). But in those places the people or the priests are the subject. Here it is the festival. The expression is a metonymy, the festival being put for those who celebrate it. חָגκατ̓ ἐζοχήν is elsewhere the feast of tabernacles. Here the festival is definitely marked as that of the passover by לֵיל. Beside the solemnity celebrated at night with song, the Prophet makes mention in the second part of the verse of another such solemnity happening by day. He also employs the manifold festal processions which with accompaniment of song and music moved to the temple, as types of the joy granted to Israel in distinction from the heathen. כְּשִׂמְהַֹת הַֹלֵךְ = כַּהֹלֵךְ comp. Isa_5:29; Isa_10:10; Isa_13:4, et saepe.חָלִיל5:12; בְּ marks accompaniment, Isa_12:6; Isa_14:9. בְּהַר צ׳. n order to avoid using the same preposition twice בְּ is here used instead of אֵל or עַל. The expression צור־ישׂראל occurs besides here only 2Sa_23:3. The expression suits admirably the context in which it is said that Israel stands while all else falls. How could what has this rock as a refuge fall?
4. And the Lord—kindle it. Isa_30:30-33. The verses 27 and 28 had depicted the approach of the judge (comp. בָּא Isa_30:27). The description of the judgment begins with Isa_30:30. Jehovah makes the glory of his voice to be heard,the action of his arm he makes to be seen. The image of corporal chastisement is employed by the Prophet to make his picture of the judgment the more incisive. זַעַף snorting, anhelitus, only here in Isaiah. נֶפֶץ is ἅπ. λεγ. The root נָפַץ denotes “to scatter, to break or dash in pieces” (Isa_11:12; Isa_33:3; Jer_51:20 sqq.). As snorting of the nose and flame of fire point to a thunder storm, while זֶרֶם and אֶבֶן בָּרָד are kinds of rain, נֶפֶּץ must also belong to this category. We take it as signifying the breaking, the rending of a cloud, a water-spout. זרם comp. on Isa_28:2. אֶבֶן בָּרָד comp. Isa_28:17; Jos_10:11. כִּי in Isa_30:31 is explicative. What is the nature of the chastisement in question is explained. First, we are told who is the party punished. It is Assyria. He stands before the Lord and trembles as a boy before his punisher’s rebuke—יֵחַת comp. Isa_7:8; Isa_31:4; Isa_51:6-7 et saepe. He who administers the punishment is Jehovah. It is He who strikes with the staff. Hence the repeated lighting down of his arm. The words בשׁבט יכה I do not refer to Assyria notwithstanding the agreement with Isa_10:24. For it was not needful to mention that Assyria formerly smote Israel with the rod. But it was necessary to say that Jehovah now strikes Assyria with the rod, in order to explain נחת זרועו Isa_30:30 and also כל מעבר יגו׳ Isa_30:32. The staff makes strokes, passes (מַעֲבָר here in the active sense, the passing over). The staff is called (מַטֵּה מוּסָדָה) because it is handled according to divine appointment and ordination (Hab_1:12) comp. Isa_28:16 and Eze_41:8. יָנִיחַ is related to נחת Ver 30. The meaning is “to make rest,” so that the ceasing, the extreme point of the motion is thus indicated (comp. Eze_5:13; Eze_16:42; Eze_44:30; Exo_17:11). Every stroke, which Jehovah makes to fall or rest on Assyria, is inflicted amid the noise of timbrels (Isa_5:12; Isa_24:8) and harps (Isa_5:12; Isa_16:11; Isa_23:16; Isa_24:8). This is doubtless that joyous noise with which Israel as it were accompanies the acts of judgment of his God (Isa_30:29). Thus there arises a complete concert. The timbrels and harps form the soprano; “the battles of shaking,” i. e., the battles of the Lord fought with shaken, brandished hand, beat as it were the time, and also represent the bass. The strokes spoken of in Isa_30:30; Isa_30:32 are deadly strokes. This appears from the altar being already prepared for the slaughtered victim. And a dreadful altar it will be, a Tophet, deep and broad, with a huge pile of wood, which will be set on fire by the breath of the Lord in the form of a burning stream of brimstone. The Prophet had already said (Isa_10:16 sqq.), that Assyria’s glory will perish by violent fire. Who does not here think of the destruction of Nineveh, in which fire played a prominent part (comp. Otto Strauss on Nah_3:15)? תָּפְּתֶּה is ἅπ. λεγ. תֹּפֶת occurs most frequently in Jeremiah. The derivation is uncertain (comp. my remarks on Jer_7:31). The form תָּפְתֶּה is after the analogy of אִשֶּׁה ,לִבְנֶה. The Tophet in the valley of Hinnom was a place of sacrifice dedicated to Moloch; the Tophet here spoken of is intended to burn up the מֶלֶךְ himself, in which word there is probably an allusion to מֹלֶךְ. It is therefore a place like Tophet, and this may be the force of the form enlarged by the addition of ־ֶה. The form אֶתְמוּל occurs only here and Mic_2:8. With the preposition מִן it is commonly מִתְּמוֹל. It cannot possibly mean here the definite past (yesterday). It denotes the indefinite past which is represented by yesterday. From the fact that the place of burning has been long ago prepared, we see that those strokes (Isa_30:30; Isa_30:32) are not mere chastisements administered in love, but destructive, deadly strokes. With גַּם הוּא the second sentence begins. These words cannot be referred to מֶלֶךְ, for then they must come after it. But the Prophet intends to say that Ashur shall not only be slaughtered, but also solemnly consumed in a vast place of sacrifice specially prepared for this purpose. But why this consuming by fire ? Not simply to denote total annihilation. If the supposition should not be established that the worship of Moloch which Ahaz introduced was connected with Assyrian influences (comp. Keil on 2Ki_16:3), still Assyria was essentially a representative of the idolatrous worldly power. And when Ashur is now told that the dreadful end of a sacrifice to Moloch awaits him, there lies therein a not indistinct allusion to the everlasting fire of that infernal lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which we find again Isa_34:9-10, whose name Gehenna is derived from the place Tophet גֵּי הִנֹּם, a trace of which drawn from Isaiah we meet with Dan_7:11, and which is more fully unfolded in the eschatological discourse of our Lord (Matthew 24, 25 where Mat_25:41 τὸ πῦρ τὸ αἰώνιον τὸ ἡτοιμασμένον clearly recalls “ordained of old” in our passage), and the Rev_14:10-11; Rev_19:20; Rev_20:9-10; Rev_20:14. When mention is made in these places of a pool of fire and brimstone, it may be maintained that the idea of the λίμνη is drawn from the expression “he hath made it deep and wide,” while the idea of fire and brimstone comes from the latter half of this verse. מְדוּרָה from דּוּר (Isa_22:18; Isa_29:3) is the round pile of wood, the pyre. The word is found besides only Eze_24:9 comp. ibid. Isa_30:5. I do not look on אֵשׁ וְעֵצִים as a hendiadys; for we see from the last clause of the verse that the Prophet desires to give prominence to the circumstance that fire will not be wanting to kindle properly the huge pile of wood. The two ideas of wood and fire are therefore not to be blended, but to be kept distinct. The words נשׁמת וגו׳ accordingly tell us whence the mighty fire will come which is destined to kindle the pile of wood. The breath of Jehovah (Isa_2:22; Isa_42:5) is here described as a stream of brimstone (נחל גפרית comp. Isa_34:9). Brimstone is set forth in Scripture as a destructive means of judgment, on the ground of that rain of brimstone which fell on Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen_19:24). בָּעַר in the signification accendere or accendiHos. Isa_7:4; Psa_2:12. Not slowly and gradually from a spark will the flame spread, but suddenly and in an imposing manner a whole stream of burning brimstone shall kindle the pile of wood. Thus the view of the Prophet, which embraces together the near and the most remote, is directed from the temporary occasion of the Egyptian embassy to the end of the present dispensation.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. On Isa_30:1-14. “Such false trust as the Jewish people placed in Egypt is the sin of idolatry, which is so strictly forbidden; and all who herein follow the example of the Jews are fitly called rebellious, disobedient, lying children. God brings them to shame and derision in regard to what they relied on, and ordains a curse and destruction upon them. Therefore the Scripture saith: “The fear of man bringeth a snare; but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.” Comp. also Psa_146:3 and Jer_17:5-8. Renner. [“God is true, and may be trusted; but every man a liar, and must be suspected. The Creator is a Rock of Ages, the creature a broken reed; we cannot expect too little from man, or too much from God.” Henry.]
2. Isa_30:8. [“The Prophet must not only preach this, but he must write it. 1. To shame the men of the present age who would not hear and heed it when it was spoken; their children may profit by it, though they will not. 2. To justify God in the judgments He was about to bring upon them; people will be tempted to think He was too hard upon them, and over severe, unless they know how very bad they were. 3. For warning to others not to do as they did, lest they fare as they fared.” Henry.]
3. Isa_30:10. A faithful minister must not suffer men to prescribe to him what he should preach. For some would tell him to prophesy of wine and strong drink (Mic_2:11), the covetous would ask that he should preach how they might practice extortion and oppression. Or if they dare not be so impudent, they would at least desire that he should pass over in silence what would be disagreeable to them, and speak what their ears itched for (2Ti_4:3). But faithful ministers preach sharply against sin that it may be avoided. Examples: Ahijah, 1Ki_14:6; Micaiah, 1Ki_22:18.” Cramer.
4. Isa_30:15. “Neque in religione solum valet hic locus sed etiam in politia. Sic enim fere accidit quod praecipitia consilia fallunt. Contra felicia sunt ea, quae timide et cum ratione suscipiuntur. Ideo laudant Romani cunctatorem Fabium qui cunctando restituit rem. Semper etiam fallit praesumtio de nostris viribus. Bene igitur dictum est illud ‘patiens terit omnia virtus’ Et Paulus: ‘Vincite in bono malum’ ….. non enim possunt durare impii, et est verissimum, quod dicitur ‘malum destruit se ipsum.’ Simus igitur quieti et commendemus omnia manibus Dei. Deinde etiam speremus futuram liberationem et experiemur, quod spes non confundet nos, sed confundentur adversarii nostri, qui impietatis causam contra Christum impie defendendam susceperunt.” Luther.
5. Isa_30:18. “Precious consolatory discourse for all who have to bear the cross. God waits till the right time to help comes.” Cramer.
6. Isa_30:19. [“He will be very gracious—and this in answer to prayer, which makes His kindness doubly kind: He will be gracious to thee at the voice of thy cry; the cry of thy necessity, when that is most urgent; the cry of thy prayer, when that is most fervent. When He shall hear it—there needs no more—at the first word He will answer thee, and say, Here I am. Herein He is very gracious indeed.” Henry.]
7. Isa_30:20. [It was a common saying among the old Puritans, “Brown bread and the Gospel are good fare.” Henry.]
8. Isa_30:22. [“Note: To all true penitents sin is very odious; they loathe it, and loathe themselves because of it; they cast it away to the dunghill.” Henry.]
9. Isa_30:29. [“It is with a particular satisfaction that wise and good men see the ruin of those who, like the Assyrians, have insolently bid defiance to God, and trampled upon all mankind.” Henry.]
HOMILETICAL HINTS
On Isa_30:1-3. What one who needs counsel has to do. 1) He is not to take counsel without the Lord; for a. thereby he apostatizes from the Lord, and heaps sin on sin; b. the counsel thus resolved on leads only to disgrace and misery. 2) He is to let himself be led by the Spirit of the Lord, while he a. invokes Him in prayer; b. seeks to know His will out of the word of God; c. according to such direction makes conscientious use of the means at his command.
2. On Isa_30:8. Text for a sermon at a Bible festival. The importance of the written word—litera scripta manet.
3. On Isa_30:9-14. A mirror which the Prophet holds before our churches also. 1) Do you make the same demands on your minister which the contemporaries of Isaîah, according to Isa_30:9-11, made on the prophets? If so, it will happen to you according to the word of the prophet in Isa_30:12 to Isa_14:2) Or will you hear the law of the Lord (Isa_30:9)? Then you will be spared the judgments of God, and the peace of God will be imparted unto you.
4. On Isa_30:15-17. We have many and severe conflicts against outward and inward foes to stand. For this we need strength. Wherein does the right strength consist? 1) Not in horses and runners, etc. 2) The right strength is in the Lord, which we obtain when a. we make room for it by being still; when b. by believing hope we attract it to us.
5. On Isa_30:18. [“He will wait to be gracious; He will wait till you return to Him, and seek His face, and then He will be ready to meet yon with mercy. He will wait, that He may do it in the best and fittest time, when it will be most for His glory, when it will come to you with the most pleasing surprise. He will continually follow you with His favors, and not let slip any opportunity of being gracious to you.” Henry.—D. M.]
6. On Isa_30:20-21. The importance of a faithful teacher.
7. On Isa_30:26-33. We can in treating of the last things cite these words, and show that the judgment has two sides, according as it has respect to the children of God, or to the ungodly.
Footnotes:
[23]Or, and the grievousness of flame.
[24]Heb. heaviness.
[25]Rock.
[26]Heb. the glory of his votes.
[27]with the rod will he smite.
[28]Heb. every passing of the rod founded.
[29]every stroke of the rod of doom.
[30]Heb. cause to rest upon him.
[31]Or, against them.
[32]a place of burning.
[33]Heb. from yesterday.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain name of . . . Lord--that is, Jehovah Himself…
name of . . . Lord--that is, Jehovah Himself (Psa 44:5; Psa 54:1); represented as a storm approaching and ready to burst over the Assyrians (Isa 30:30-31).
burden . . . is heavy--literally, "grievousness is the flame," that is, the flame which darts from Him is grievous. Or else (as the Hebrew means an "uplifting") the uprising cloud is grievous [G. V. SMITH]; the gathering cloud gradually rising till it bursts.
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 27, 28. The transition here is sudden.
27, 28. The transition here is sudden.
The name — The “name” of Jehovah is Jehovah himself, that is, Jehovah in absolute and distinctive personality as revealed in word and act.
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Cometh from far — The revelation of God’s righteousness cometh from all his works and providences. Manifestations of divine judgments are everywhere. God is judge. Nations are brought before him. Evil doing is condemned, and monuments thereof cover the world. The judgments now to be rendered are upon Assyria, the persecutor of Judah. The storm, ready to burst, is hovering over the world-power, but the description applies in principle to all judgment scenes. Jehovah comes in deliverance to all his trusting people through awful but necessary calamities to his enemies.
His anger — His felt moral outrage against defiant independence of him.
Burden… is heavy — Literally, Grievous is the flame. Possibly this means, “Tremendous is the bursting lightning which darts from the blackened heavens.”
And his breath — His Spirit moving, now gently, now in tornado force, as occasion calls; in this action it is violent, destructive.
As an overflowing stream — Rushing forth as such a stream rushes.
Neck — Or, divides at the neck. Only the head is yet out of peril. Perhaps meaning Assyria, not yet completely doomed.
Sieve of vanity — Divine judgment sifts the nations, and what remains is emptiness, nothingness, destruction. Lowth calls it the winnowing fan of destruction.
Bridle — In the jaws of unwilling nations, leading them into ways they did not intend. See Assyrian inscriptions.
Here are metaphors jumbled, but of striking force and of clear meaning. The figures melt into each other. A storm is conceived rising from the farthest horizon; the black cloud is turned into a sea of fire, or lightnings consuming where they strike, and raising volumes (burden) of smoke, all of which symbolizes the divine wrath, swelling as it were into a stream, covering men up to the neck, the same as in chap. Isa_8:8, which see. The judicial effect is the same as sifting chaff to the winds by the winnowing fan, common to this day in Palestine. All that is worth saving is left, the rest cast utterly away. Nations are destroyed, or diminished and held as by a “bridle” from pursuing and compassing their utterly selfish ends.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 27. the name of the Lord] appears here to…
27. the name of the Lord] appears here to be synonymous with what is elsewhere called the “glory of Jehovah” (cf. the parallelism, ch. Isa_59:19; Psa_102:15) i.e. the visible manifestation of His presence. It may have the same sense in ch. Isa_18:7, the Temple of the future being conceived as the scene of a perpetual Theophany (Eze_43:2 ff.). Amongst the later Jews the expression “the Name” was commonly used, out of reverence, to avoid the use of Jehovah (cf. Lev_24:11).
cometh from far] In Jdg_5:4; Deu_33:2, the Theophany comes from Seir or Sinai; here its origin is left indefinite. Jehovah’s coming is like that of the thundercloud which appears on the distant horizon, no eye having observed the mysterious process by which it was formed. In what follows the figure of the storm is inseparably blended with an anthropomorphic representation of Jehovah.
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and the burden thereof is heavy] Render: and with thick uplifting (of smoke) (Cheyne). R.V. “in thick rising smoke.” Cf. Jdg_20:38.
full of indignation] Perhaps “full of angry foam.”
27, 28. These verses describe the Theophany, in which Jehovah appears to destroy the Assyrians, cf. Jdg_5:4-5; Psa_18:7 ff. Psa_50:3-5.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (27) Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from…
(27) Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from far . . .—The use of “the Name of Jehovah” for Jehovah Himself is noticeable as an anticipation of the later use of the memra (sc., “word”) in the Targumim (or paraphrases) of the sacred writings, and of the logos of St. John, a distinct, though not defined, conception of a duality in the Divine essence. In other respects the vision of the Theophany has its parallels in Jdg_5:4-5; Exo_24:17.
And the burden thereof is heavy.—Better, in thick uplifting of smoke.
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 Vers. 27-33. A PROPHECY OF ASSYRIA"S DESTRUCTION. Mr. Chcyne…
Vers. 27-33. A PROPHECY OF ASSYRIA"S DESTRUCTION. Mr. Chcyne regards this passage as "a symbolic description of the judgment introduced by a theophany." But is it not rather a poetical description of God"s judgment on Assyria, which may be, probably is, a type of his final judgment upon an iniquitous world? The mention of Assyria in ver. 31 seems to be decisive in favor of the prophecy being (primarily) of special application to the circumstances of the time.
The Name of the Lord cometh from far. "The Name of Jehovah" is scarcely distinguishable from Jehovah himself. Jehovah, who has long hid himself, and seemed to keep himself remote from worldly affairs, now is about to manifest his glory, and interpose in the doings of men in a wonderful way. Burning with his anger; rather, his anger burneth. (comp. Isa_42:25) And the burden thereof is heavy; anti heavy is its grievousness." His tongue as a devouring fire. (comp. Exo_24:17 Deu_9:3 Isa_9:19 Isa_10:17 Isa_29:6 Isa_33:14)
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Vers. 27-33. Judgment and joy.
This forcible, energetic language, in which darkest shadow and brightest sunshine very strikingly intermingle, may remind us
I THAT GOD DOES COME IN TERRIBLE JUDGMENTS TO THE CHILDREN OF MEN.
1. Sometimes to men collectively to societies, to cities, to nations.
2. At other times to individual men. In the special ordering or in the permission of his Divine providence he sends the overwhelming loss and consequently reduced or even impoverished estate, or the wasting and consuming sickness, or the undermining and final destruction of influence, or the shattering of power, or sudden, perhaps violent, death. God lets such things overtake the guilty, that the pictorial and poetical language of the text is applicable. It is as if his "anger bused," as if his "lips were full of indignation;" his judgments come down as an overflowing stream, they cast forth the guilty like a winnowing-shovel; his glorious voice is heard, his arm descends in righteous retribution.
II THAT THE JUDGMENT OF GOD IS ACCOMPANIED WITH THE JOY OF MAN. "Ye shall have a song, as in the night... and gladness of heart" (ver. 29); "in every place where the grounded staff shall pass it shall be with tabrets and harps" (ver. 32). Here and elsewhere the judgments of God are made the occasion of human thankfulness and joy. It is clear:
1. That in such joy there should be no element of vindictiveness. It would be positively unchristian to find a source of satisfaction in the bodily or mental suffering of men because they have injured us. (Rom_12:19, Rom_12:20) Christian magnanimity should rise to the height of earnestly desiring that its foes may be won to truth, wisdom, and eternal life.
2. That there may be in such joy the element of righteous satisfaction; not, indeed, that men suffer, but that their sin receives its appropriate mark of Divine disapproval; that the integrity of the Divine rule is vindicated; that God"s presence and his holiness are seen to be near and not afar off. This is the spirit of the psalmist. (Psa_97:1)
3. That there may be also the element of human sympathy. Often at such times we have great gladness of heart, because, when he that once "smote with a rod" is himself "beaten down" (ver. 31), those who were smitten by the oppressor walk in liberty and security. The humiliation of the wrongdoer is the exaltation of the righteous is the enfranchisement of the holy and the wise.
4. That there will also be the element of holy expectation. When Sennacherib has God"s bridle in his jaws and is caused to wander far from his chosen path, Jerusalem is safe and Jehovah"s service is secure. When the enemies of religion are scattered, there is a goodly prospect of opened sanctuaries, of multiplied privileges, of increase of piety and virtue on every hand. When the persecutor perishes the minister of truth rejoices greatly, and there is music in the house of the Lord because there is every reason to hope that the Churches, having rest, will "walk in the fear of God... and be multiplied". (Act_9:31)
1. It is well, in the time of danger or distress, to ask for Divine deliverance.
2. It is better to ask for Divine strength to be enabled to overcome the evil from which we suffer by the good which we do. C. (Rom_12:21)
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 The imagery of Isa 30:27; Isa 30:28 is cumulative.…
Behold
The imagery of Isa 30:27; Isa 30:28 is cumulative. Judah is making an alliance with Egypt when she might be in league with Him whose judgment upon the world-powers will be like a terrible thunder-tempest (Isa 30:27), turning streams into torrents neck-deep (Isa 30:28, f.c.); who will sift the nations in their own sieve of vanity (or "destruction"), and put His bridle into the jaws of the peoples.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 the name of Yahweh ... like a devouring fire
the name of Yahweh ... like a devouring fire
Yahweh being extremely angry is spoken of as if he were a large fire. (See: Metaphor)
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the name of Yahweh comes
Here "name" represents Yahweh. AT: "Yahweh comes" (See: Metonymy)
His lips are full of fury, and his tongue is like a devouring fire
Here "lips" and "tongue" are metonyms that represent Yahweh speaking. And, Yahweh speaks with so much anger and power that it is spoken of as if his tongue were a fire. AT: "When he speaks his fury is like a fire that destroys everything" (See: Synecdoche and Simile)
His breath is like an overflowing torrent
This compares the air coming out of Yahweh's mouth to a flood to emphasize its power to destroy. (See: Simile)
to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction
Yahweh separating the people of the nations and destroying the wicked people is spoken of as if Yahweh puts the nations in a sieve. This can be translated as a new sentence. AT: "Yahweh will separate and destroy the wicked people of the nations" (See: Metaphor)
His breath is a bridle in the jaws of the peoples to cause them to wander away
Yahweh having the power to cause people's plans to fail or causing them to be destroyed is spoken of as if his breath were a bridle that steers people off the correct path. (See: Metaphor)
a bridle in the jaws of the peoples
A "bridle" is a device that people put over a horse's head to guide it. The bridle contains a small piece called a "bit" that goes in the horse's mouth. AT: "a bridle on the heads of the peoples" or "a bit in the jaws of the peoples" (See: Translate Unknowns)
translationWords
name
Yahweh
anger
tongue
devour
fire
winnow
nation
people group
astray
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 30:27-33 In this prophecy of judgment against the nations,…
30:27-33 In this prophecy of judgment against the nations, Isaiah foretold that Assyria’s power would be broken by God’s strong arm, not by the Egyptians.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.