Your heart will meditate on the terror. Where is he who counted? Where is he who weighed? Where is he who counted the towers?
Parallel Translations
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Your heart will meditate on the terror. Where is he who counted? Where is he who weighed? Where is he who counted the towers?
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Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
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Thy heart shall muse on the terror: 'Where is he that counted, where is he that weighed? Where is he that counted the towers?'
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to Isaiah 33:18 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Corinthians 1:20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the lawyer of this world? Hasn’t God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
- Genesis 23:16 Abraham listened to Ephron. Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the hearing of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the current merchants’ standard.
- 1 Samuel 25:33-36 Blessed is your discretion, and blessed are you, who have kept me today from blood guiltiness, and from avenging myself with my own hand. For indeed, as Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, who has withheld me from harming you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely there wouldn’t have been left to Nabal by the morning light so much as one who urinates on a wall.” So David received from her hand that which she had brought him. Then he said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. Behold, I have listened to your voice, and have granted your request.” Abigail came to Nabal; and behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk. Therefore she told him nothing until the morning light.
- 1 Samuel 30:6 David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him, because the souls of all the people were grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters; but David strengthened himself in Yahweh his God.
- 2 Kings 15:19 Pul the king of Assyria came against the land, and Menahem gave Pul one thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.
- 2 Kings 18:14 Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, “I have offended you. Return from me. That which you put on me, I will bear.” The king of Assyria appointed to Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
- 2 Kings 18:31 Don’t listen to Hezekiah.’ For the king of Assyria says, ‘Make your peace with me, and come out to me; and everyone of you eat from his own vine, and everyone from his own fig tree, and everyone drink water from his own cistern;
- Psalms 31:7-8 I will be glad and rejoice in your loving kindness, for you have seen my affliction. You have known my soul in adversities. You have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy. You have set my feet in a large place.
- Psalms 31:22 As for me, I said in my haste, “I am cut off from before your eyes.” Nevertheless you heard the voice of my petitions when I cried to you.
- Psalms 71:20 You, who have shown us many and bitter troubles, you will let me live. You will bring us up again from the depths of the earth.
- Isaiah 10:16-19 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. He will consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body. It will be as when a standard bearer faints. The remnant of the trees of his forest shall be few, so that a child could write their number.
- Isaiah 17:14 At evening, behold, terror! Before the morning, they are no more. This is the portion of those who plunder us, and the lot of those who rob us.
- Isaiah 38:9-22 The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and had recovered of his sickness. I said, “In the middle of my life I go into the gates of Sheol. I am deprived of the residue of my years.” I said, “I won’t see Yah, Yah in the land of the living. I will see man no more with the inhabitants of the world. My dwelling is removed, and is carried away from me like a shepherd’s tent. I have rolled up my life like a weaver. He will cut me off from the loom. From day even to night you will make an end of me. I waited patiently until morning. He breaks all my bones like a lion. From day even to night you will make an end of me. I chattered like a swallow or a crane. I moaned like a dove. My eyes weaken looking upward. Lord, I am oppressed. Be my security.” What will I say? He has both spoken to me, and himself has done it. I will walk carefully all my years because of the anguish of my soul. Lord, men live by these things; and my spirit finds life in all of them: you restore me, and cause me to live. Behold, for peace I had great anguish, but you have in love for my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; for you have cast all my sins behind your back. For Sheol can’t praise you. Death can’t celebrate you. Those who go down into the pit can’t hope for your truth. The living, the living, he shall praise you, as I do today. The father shall make known your truth to the children. Yahweh will save me. Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments all the days of our life in Yahweh’s house. Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs, and lay it for a poultice on the boil, and he shall recover.” Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I will go up to Yahweh’s house?”
- 2 Corinthians 1:8-10 For we don’t desire to have you uninformed, brothers, concerning our affliction which happened to us in Asia, that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, so much that we despaired even of life. Yes, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us out of so great a death, and does deliver; on whom we have set our hope that he will also still deliver us;
- 2 Timothy 3:11 persecutions, and sufferings: those things that happened to me at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. I endured those persecutions. The Lord delivered me out of them all.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Before that this liberty cometh thou shalt think that…
Before that this liberty cometh thou shalt think that thou art in great danger: for the enemy shall so sharply assail you, that one shall cry, where is the clerk that writeth the names of them that are taxed? another, Where is the receiver? another shall cry for him that valueth the rich houses, but God will deliver you from this fear.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 33:18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where [is]…
Isa 33:18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where [is] the scribe? where [is] the receiver? where [is] he that counted the towers?
Ver. 18. Thine heart shall meditate terror.] But thou shalt now think of it as "waters that are past," calling to mind what speeches among those late distractions had fallen from thee. {a}
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Where is the scribe?] Or, The muster master of the Assyrian army? Verba sunt insultantium et exultantium, saith Piscator; they are the words of God’s people insulting over the enemy, now overthrown and dispersed. See the like done by the apostle. {1Co 1:10}
{a} Olim haec meminisse iuvabit.
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 Thine heart shall meditate terror: this is either,
Thine heart shall meditate terror: this is either,
1. A premonition concerning a future judgment, as if he said, Before these glorious promises shall be accomplished, thou shalt be brought into great straits and troubles. Or rather,
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2. A thankful acknowledgment of deliverance from a former danger; as if he had said, When thou art delivered, thou shalt, with pleasure and thankfulness, recall to mind thy former terrors and miseries.
Where is the scribe, & c.? these words are either,
1. Words of gratulation, and insultation over the enemy. Thou shalt then say, Where are the great officers of the Assyrian host? They are no where, they are not, they are dealt or slain. Or rather,
2. The words of men dismayed and confounded, such as proceeded from the Jews in the time of their distress, and are here remembered to aggravate the present mercy. For the officers here mentioned seem not to be those of the Assyrian army, who were actually fighting against the Jews and Jerusalem, (for then he would rather have mentioned the captains of the host, as the Scripture commonly doth in these cases, than the scribes and receivers, &c.,) but rather of the Jews in Jerusalem who, upon the approach of Sennacherib, began to make military preparations for the defence of the city, and to choose such officers as were necessary and usual for that end; such as these were, to wit,
the scribe, whom we call muster-master, who was to make and keep a list of the soldiers, and to call them together, as occasion required.
The receiver; who received and laid out the money for the charges of the war; and he
that counted the towers, who surveyed all the parts of the city, and considered what towers or fortifications were to be made or repaired for the security of the city. And unto these several officers the people resorted, with great distraction and confusion, to acquaint them with all occurrences, or to quicken them to their several works, or to transact matters with them, as occasion required.
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 Thine heart shall meditate terror,.... shall recollect, and think…
Thine heart shall meditate terror,.... shall recollect, and think of with pleasure and thankfulness, the terror they were formerly seized with, when surrounded and oppressed by their enemies, particularly at the time of the slaying of the witnesses, which will be a terrible time to the church and people of God; but when that is over, they will call it to mind with gratitude, for deliverance from it (e). This is commonly understood of the terror and consternation the Jews were in when besieged by the Assyrian army; and so the following words,
Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers? are taken to be either the words of the Jews in their distress, calling for such and such officers to go to their respective posts, and do their duty; as the "scribe", or muster master, to see that he has his full quota of men; the "receiver" or treasurer, and paymaster of the soldiers, to give the men money and wages, that they may be encouraged to fight; and "the counter of towers", or engineer, to take care of the fortifications, and give directions about them: or else, as now insulting the Assyrians after the defeat of them, inquiring where were now such and such officers in their army, whom before they dreaded, signifying they were all perished and gone. The apostle cites these words, or at least alludes to them, Co1 1:20 when he says, "where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world?" triumphing over the wise doctors of the Jews, and the philosophers of the Gentiles, as not being able to face and withstand the power and wisdom of the Gospel; See Gill on Co1 1:20. So here, when the people of God will be recovered from their fright, and be brought out of their low estate, and will have ascended into heaven, or be come into a glorious church state, they will then triumph over their enemies, who will be no more, and say, where are the pope and his clergy? his cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests, monks, friars, &c.; what are become of them? they are all gone, and will be no more. The Targum is,
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"thine heart shall think of great things; where are the scribes? where are the princes? where are the counters? let them come, if they can count the numbers of the slain, the heads of mighty armies;''
which may well enough be illustrated by Rev 11:13.
(e) So Ben Melech interprets it,
"thine heart, which was meditating terror before this.''
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 Thine heart - This is a thankful acknowledgment of…
Thine heart - This is a thankful acknowledgment of deliverance from their former terrors and miseries. Where - These words they spoke in the time of their distress. The scribe, whom we call muster-master, was to make and keep a list of the soldiers, and to call them together as occasion required: the receiver, received and laid out the money for the charges of the war; and he that counted the towers, surveyed all the parts of the city, and considered what towers or fortifications were to be made or repaired. And unto these several officers the people resorted, with great distraction and confusion.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 18. Where is the scribe?] The person appointed…
Verse 18. Where is the scribe?] The person appointed by the king of Assyria to estimate their number and property in reference to their being heavily taxed.
Where is the receiver?] Or he who was to have collected this tribute.
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Where is he that counted the towers?] That is, the commander of the enemy's forces, who surveyed the fortifications of the city, and took an account of the height, strength, and situation of the walls and towers, that he might know where to make the assault with the greatest advantage; as Capaneus before Thebes is represented in a passage of the Phoenissae of Euripides, which Grotius has applied as an illustration of this place: -
Εκεινος ἑπτα προσβασεις τεκμαιρεται
Πυργων, ανω τε και κατω τειχη μετρων.
Ver. 187.
"To these seven turrets each approach he marks;
The walls from their proud summit to their base
Measuring with eager eye."
He that counted the towers - "Those who were ordered to review the fortified places in Judea, that they might be manned and provisioned for the king of Assyria. So sure was he of gaining Jerusalem and subduing the whole of Judea, that he had already formed all these arrangements." - Dodd's notes.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Thine heart - The heart of the people of…
Thine heart - The heart of the people of Jerusalem.
Shall meditate terror - This is similar to the expression in Virgil:
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- forsan et haec olim meminisse jurabit.
AEn. ii. 203.
The sense here is, ‘You shall hereafter think over all this alarm and distress. When the enemy is destroyed, the city saved, and the king shall reign in magnificence over all the nation then enjoying peace and prosperity, you shall recall these days of terror and alarm, and shall then ask with gratitude and astonishment, Where are they who caused this alarm? Where are now they who so confidently calculated on taking the city? They are all gone - and gone in a manner suited to excite astonishment and adoring gratitude.’ ‘Sweet is the recollection,’ says Rosenmuller, ‘of dangers that are passed.’
Where is the scribe? - How soon, how suddenly has he vanished! The word scribe here (ספר sı̂phēr) evidently refers to some prominent class of officers in the Assyrian army. It is from ספר sâphar, to count, to number, to write; and probably refers to a secretary, perhaps a secretary of state or of war, or an inspector-general, who had the charge of reviewing an army 2Ki 25:19; Jer 37:15; Jer 52:25.
Where is the receiver? - Margin, as in Hebrew, ‘Weigher.’ Vulgate, ‘Where is he that ponders the words of the law?’ The Septuagint, ‘Where are the counselors (ουμβουλεύοντες sumbouleuontes)?’ Probably the word refers to him who weighed the tribute, or the pay of the Soldiers; and means, doubtless, some officer in the army of the Assyrian; probably one whose office it was to have charge of the military chest, and to pay the army.
Where is he that counted the towers? - That is, who made an estimate of the strength of Jerusalem - either Sennacherib, or someone appointed by him to reconnoitre and report on the means which the city bad of defense (compare Isa 36:4).
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 Ones. These questions were put by the people, when…
Ones. These questions were put by the people, when the enemy approached; or they now rejoice that their severe masters were gone.
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 meditate--on the "terror" caused by the enemy, but now…
meditate--on the "terror" caused by the enemy, but now past.
where, &c.--the language of the Jews exulting over their escape from danger.
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scribe--who enrolled the army [MAURER]; or, who prescribed the tribute to be paid [ROSENMULLER]; or, who kept an account of the spoil. "The principal scribe of the host" (Kg2 25:19; Jer 52:25). The Assyrian records are free from the exaggerations of Egyptian records. Two scribes are seen in every Assyrian bas-relief, writing down the various objects brought to them, the heads of the slain, prisoners, cattle, sheep, &c.
receiver--"weigher," Margin. LAYARD mentions, among the Assyrian inscriptions, "a pair a scales for weighing the spoils."
counted . . . towers--he whose duty it was to reconnoitre and report the strength of the city to be besieged.
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 18, 19. Meditate terror — So joyous may the…
18, 19. Meditate terror — So joyous may the people now be, that the dreadful past is a fact to be thought of (meditated upon) as long since having transpired, and to be recalled by effort of memory. Thoughts recently so engrossing about the scribe, or manager of funds for the war — about the receiver, or the weigher of the moneys — or about him who counted, that is, examined the strength of the towers — are now all vanished amid the present joy.
Not see a fierce people… stammering tongue — No more are the rough Assyrians, a people of barbarous dialect, or a wretched, ill sounding Semitic patois, to be seen around Jerusalem.
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 18. shall meditate terror] Or, better, shall muse on…
18. shall meditate terror] Or, better, shall muse on the terror (R.V.),—strive to realise its various circumstances which have so completely disappeared.
Where is the scribe?… receiver] Render with R.V. where is he that counted, where is he that weighed; the officers who exacted the tribute.
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that counted the towers] calculating the strength of the city with a view to attack it.
18, 19. In those days it will require an effort of imagination to recall the dangers of the present, from which the nation shall have been so suddenly and so marvellously saved.
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 (18) Thine heart shall meditate terror—i.e., shall recall the…
(18) Thine heart shall meditate terror—i.e., shall recall the memory of the past evil days, as a dream that had passed away, leaving behind it the thankful joy which rises out of such recollections.
Where is the scribe?—Then, in those times of panic, each Assyrian official was an object of dread. There was the “scribe,” who fixed the amount of tribute to be paid by each village or landowner; the “receiver” (literally, weigher), who weighed the gold and silver as it was brought in for payment; the “counter of towers,” who formed his plans for the operation of the “siege.” In Psa_48:13 the same phrase is used of those who defend the city.
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 Thine heart shall meditate terror; i.e. "thou shalt look…
Thine heart shall meditate terror; i.e. "thou shalt look back upon the past time of terror, the dreadful period of the siege, and contrast it with thy present happiness." Mr. Cheyne quotes as an illustration, appositely enough, Virgil"s "Et haec olim meminisse juvabit." Where is the scribe... the receiver?.... he that counted the towers? Where now are the Assyrian officials the scribe, who registered the amount of the tribute and booty ("Ancient Monarchies," vol. 1. p. 476); the receiver, who weighed the gold and silver carefully in a balance (Layard, "Nineveh and its Remains," vol. 2. p. 377); and the engineer officer who surveyed the place to be besieged, estimated its strength, and counted its towers? All have perished or have fled away in dismay.
Vers. 18-24. Happy times.
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A very pleasant picture is this of a nation or of a Church on which the full blessing of God is resting. There are several elements in its prosperity.
I A SENSE OF THE DIVINE MERCY. "The people... shall be forgiven their iniquity" (ver. 24). A sense of pardoned sin and of reconciliation to God is at the foundation of all true peace, all sacred joy, and all holy usefulness.
II THE MAINTENANCE or DEVOTIONAL HABITS. Zion is to be always known as "the city of solemnities" (ver. 20). There reverent prayer and grateful praise and earnest inquiry of the Lord are to be continually found.
III THE ABIDING PRESENCE AND GREAT POWER OF GOD. The word that will most commonly be heard on the lips, because most frequently rising from the soul, will be "the Lord." "Jehovah is our Judge." "Jehovah is," etc. (ver. 22). Everything is to suggest him, is to be referred to his will, is to be ascribed to his grace.
IV A PLEASANT RECOLLECTION OF EVILS THAT ARE OVER. (Ver. 18.) Happy the Church or the man when the dark days that have been and are gone are sufficiently removed from present experience to make the memory of them a source of joy and not of pain. Such a time does often come, and we may well rejoice and be glad in it. The home is the dearer and the more delightful for the privations that have been passed through on the way.
V ABUNDANCE FOR EVERY PURE DESIRE. The "glorious Lord" will secure bountiful supplies for every imaginable need, even as the broad river and outstretching streams provide verdure and grain over all the surface of the well-watered land, even as the affrighted and fleeing army leaves prey which even the halt and the lame will be strong enough to take. In the day of God"s blessing there will be nourishment for the thoughtful, and also for those who feel more than they think; truth for the wise and for the simple, for the mature of mind and for the little child; posts of service for the advanced Christian and also for those who have just begun their course; such fullness, even to overflow, of all that meets the wants and cravings of the heart, that the weakest as well as the strongest shall find his place and take his share.
VI DIVINE GUARDIANSHIP. Prosperity is dangerous, but, with God"s Spirit in the Church, it shall not be harmful. On the broad river of success and satisfaction the sails of the spiritual enemy shall not be seen (ver. 21). "The sun shall not smite by day;" it will illumine and warm, but will not scorch and wither. Consequently, there shall be
VII SOUNDNESS AND SECURITY. The inhabitant will not be sick (ver. 24); "Jerusalem will be a quiet habitation," etc. (ver. 20). Spiritual soundness, moral integrity, purity of heart, shall prevail. Anal this abounding, there will be no abatement of prosperity; the stakes will not be removed, the tent will remain; there will be no need for any going into exile; there will be a happy permanence and fixedness of abode. The picture is one that is ideal rather than actual; it is what every Church should aim to present. Only the favor of God can possibly secure it. The vital question is How is that favor to be won? And that question resolves itself into other questions Is there occasion for humiliation and a change of spirit and of behavior? Is there need for more internal union? (Psa_133:3) or for more prayer? (Luk_18:1 Jam_4:3) or for more love both of Christ and man? (1Co_13:1 Rev_2:4) or for more zeal? C. (Rev_3:15)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 33:18 Assyrian officers brought great terror to Judah when…
33:18 Assyrian officers brought great terror to Judah when the Assyrians defeated various cities around Jerusalem (2 Kgs 18:13).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.