Behold, they may gather together, but not by me. Whoever gathers together against you will fall because of you.
Parallel Translations
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Behold, they may gather together, but not by me. Whoever gathers together against you will fall because of you.
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Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.
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Behold, they may gather together, but not by Me; whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall because of thee.
Cross-references (12)
Passages linked to Isaiah 54:15 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 41:11-16 Behold, all those who are incensed against you will be disappointed and confounded. Those who strive with you will be like nothing, and shall perish. You will seek them, and won’t find them, even those who contend with you. Those who war against you will be as nothing, as a non-existent thing. For I, Yahweh your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘Don’t be afraid. I will help you.’ Don’t be afraid, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel. I will help you,” says Yahweh. “Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I have made you into a new sharp threshing instrument with teeth. You will thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and will make the hills like chaff. You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away, and the whirlwind will scatter them. You will rejoice in Yahweh. You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.
- Psalms 37:12-13 The wicked plots against the just, and gnashes at him with his teeth. The Lord will laugh at him, for he sees that his day is coming.
- Zechariah 12:9 It will happen in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
- Zechariah 2:8 For Yahweh of Armies says: ‘For honor he has sent me to the nations which plundered you; for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye.
- Isaiah 43:3-4 For I am Yahweh your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I have given Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place. Since you have been precious and honored in my sight, and I have loved you, therefore I will give people in your place, and nations instead of your life.
- Zechariah 14:2-3 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city will be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city will go out into captivity, and the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. Then Yahweh will go out and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
- Revelation 20:8-9 and he will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. They went up over the width of the earth, and surrounded the camp of the saints, and the beloved city. Fire came down out of heaven from God and devoured them.
- Isaiah 43:14 Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says: “For your sake, I have sent to Babylon, and I will bring all of them down as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships of their rejoicing.
- Ezekiel 38:8-23 After many days you will be visited. In the latter years you will come into the land that is brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples, on the mountains of Israel, which have been a continual waste; but it is brought out of the peoples, and they will dwell securely, all of them. You will ascend. You will come like a storm. You will be like a cloud to cover the land, you, and all your hordes, and many peoples with you.” “ ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “It will happen in that day that things will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil plan. You will say, ‘I will go up to the land of unwalled villages. I will go to those who are at rest, who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, to take the plunder and to take prey; to turn your hand against the waste places that are inhabited, and against the people who are gathered out of the nations, who have gotten livestock and goods, who dwell in the middle of the earth.’ Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions of it, will ask you, ‘Have you come to take the plunder? Have you assembled your company to take the prey, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?’ ” ’ “Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and tell Gog, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “In that day when my people Israel dwells securely, will you not know it? You will come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you, and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army. You will come up against my people Israel, as a cloud to cover the land. It will happen in the latter days, that I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when I am sanctified in you, Gog, before their eyes.” “ ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Are you he of whom I spoke in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for years that I would bring you against them? It will happen in that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” says the Lord Yahweh, “that my wrath will come up into my nostrils. For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath I have spoken. Surely in that day there will be a great shaking in the land of Israel; so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the animals of the field, all creeping things who creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the surface of the earth will shake at my presence. Then the mountains will be thrown down, the steep places will fall, and every wall will fall to the ground. I will call for a sword against him to all my mountains,” says the Lord Yahweh. “Every man’s sword will be against his brother. I will enter into judgment with him with pestilence and with blood. I will rain on him, and on his hordes, and on the many peoples who are with him, an overflowing shower, with great hailstones, fire, and sulfur. I will magnify myself, and sanctify myself, and I will make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.” ’
- Zechariah 12:3 It will happen in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples. All who burden themselves with it will be severely wounded, and all the nations of the earth will be gathered together against it.
- Revelation 16:14 for they are spirits of demons, performing signs; which go out to the kings of the whole inhabited earth, to gather them together for the war of that great day of God, the Almighty.
- Joel 3:9-14 Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for war! Stir up the mighty men. Let all the warriors draw near. Let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’ Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves together.” Cause your mighty ones to come down there, Yahweh. “Let the nations arouse themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the wine press is full, the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.” Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of Yahweh is near, in the valley of decision.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (17 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain And therefore shall not prevail.
And therefore shall not prevail.
Meaning, the domestical enemies of the Church, as are the hypocrites.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 54:15 Behold, they shall surely gather together, [but]…
Isa 54:15 Behold, they shall surely gather together, [but] not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.
Ver. 15. Behold, they shall surely (or sedulously) gather together,] {a} Heb., He shall, gathering, gather together, i.e., the enemies, as one man. Some understand it as heretics and hypocrites, who shall dwell together with the Church, so they render it; but shall be evil affected toward it, but to their own ruin,
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Whosoever shall gather together against thee.] Qui accolit tecum contra te. Such are those renegade Jesuits that run over to the Lutherans, pretending to be converts, when it is only to keep up the bitter contention that is between them and us.
{a} Commorabuntur.
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 They shall surely gather together; it is true, there…
They shall surely gather together; it is true, there will not want some that shall combine and make an attempt against thee.
But not by me; as they do this without any such commission from me, as Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar had, Isa 10:6,7; Jer 25:9; so they shall not have my help in it, without which all their endeavours will be vain and unsuccessful.
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Whosoever shall gather together to battle, as is manifest from the following words, of which kind of gathering this word is used, Psa 140:2, and elsewhere. Against thee, Heb. with thee. But to fight with a man is all one with fighting against him.
Shall fall for thy sake; for that respect and love which I bear to thee. Or before thee, as this particle is sometimes used, so as thine eyes shall behold it.
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 Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by…
Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me,.... Not by the Lord, by his command or order to do his will, and execute his pleasure, which sometimes was the case, as in Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, and others; but so it shall not be, when the enemies of Christ and his people gather together against them in the latter day; this will be by the means of three unclean spirits like frogs that will come out of the mouth of the dragon, beast, and false prophet; even spirits of devils, Popish priests, and Jesuits, who will instigate, stir up, and get together the antichristian kings of the earth to the battle of almighty God, Rev 16:14. Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech, interpret them of Gog and Magog:
whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake; because of the love that I bear to thee, they shall not succeed, or do thee any hurt, but shall perish; or, "shall fall to thee" (c); so far from doing thee any hurt, they shall come over to thee, and be on thy side; be joined to thee, as the Vulgate Latin version; that is, the remnant that shall escape, and be converted, and give glory to God, Rev 11:13 or rather, "shall fall before thee" (d), in thy sight; or, as the Targum, in the midst of thee; which remarkably paraphrases the words thus,
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"at the end the kings of the nations, which are gathered together to afflict thee, O Jerusalem, shall fall in the midst of thee;''
for the kings of the earth that shall be gathered together against Christ and his church shall fall in battle before them, and their flesh shall become meat for the fowls of the heaven; the beast and false prophet, in company with them, will be taken and cast alive into the lake of fire, and the remnant be slain with the sword of Christ, Rev 19:17.
(c) "ad te cadet", Cocceius. (d) "Cotam te cadet", Grotius, Gataker.
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 - It is true some will combine and…
Behold - It is true some will combine and make an attempt against thee. But - Without any such commission from me, as Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar had.
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. Shall fall for thy sake - "Shall…
Verse 15. Shall fall for thy sake - "Shall come over to thy side."] For יפול yippol, twenty-eight MSS. (eight ancient) have יפל yipal, in its more common form. For the meaning of the word in this place, see Jer 37:13.
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 54:15-17. Behold, they shall gather together — It…
Isa 54:15-17. Behold, they shall gather together — It is true, some will combine, and make an attempt against thee. But not by me — As they will do this without any such commission from me as Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar had, so they shall not have my help in it, without which all their endeavours will be in vain. Whosoever shall gather together — To fight against, or persecute thee; shall fall for thy sake — Through that respect and love which I bear to thee. Or, before thee, as the Hebrew may be rendered, so as thine eyes shall behold it.
Behold, I have created the smith, &c. — Both the smith that makes warlike instruments, and the soldier that uses them, are my creatures, and totally at my command, and therefore they cannot hurt you without my leave. I have created the waster, &c. — To destroy only whom and when I please. No weapon formed against thee shall prosper — As they cannot do any thing against thee without my leave, so I assure thee I will not suffer them really to injure thee; and every tongue, &c., shalt thou condemn — And I will deliver thee, not only from the fury of war, but also from the strife of tongues. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord — This blessed condition is the portion allotted them by me. And their righteousness — The reward of their righteousness; is of me — I give it, and I will continue it to them.
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, they shall surely gather together - The idea…
Behold, they shall surely gather together - The idea in this verse is, that the enemies of the people of God would indeed form alliances and compacts against them, but it would not be under the divine direction, and they would not be able to prevail against the church. The word rendered here ‘gather together’ (גור gûr) means properly ‘to turn aside from the way’; then to sojourn for a time; then to assemble against anyone. It seems here to refer to the gathering together of hostile forces to form an alliance, or to wage war. Great variety, however, has prevailed in the interpretation of the passage, but this seems to be the sense of it. Jerome renders it, ‘Lo, a foreigner shall come who was not with me, the stranger shall hereafter be joined to thee,’ and seems to understand it of the proselytes that should be made. This sense is found expressly in the Septuagint, ‘Lo, proselytes shall come to thee through me, and they shall sojourn with thee, and fly to thee’ The Chaldee renders it, ‘Lo, the captivity of thy people shall be surely gathered unto thee, and in the end the kings of the people which were assembled to afflict thee, O Jerusalem, shall fall in the midst of thee.’ But the above seems to be the correct sense. Alliances would be formed; compacts would be entered into; leagues would be made by the enemies of the people of God, and they would be assembled to destroy the church. This has often been done. Formidable confederations have been entered into for the purpose, and deep-laid plans have been devised to destroy the friends of the Most High. See Psa 2:2 : ‘The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, and against his Anointed.’ No small part of history is a record of the combinations and alliances which have been entered into for the purpose of driving the true religion from the world.
But not by me - Not under my direction, or by my command.
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Shall fall for thy sake - Hebrew, עליך ‛âlaı̂yk - ‘Shall fall unto thee.’ Lowth, ‘Shall come over to thy side.’ The phrase seems to mean that they should ‘fall to them,’ that is, that they should lay aside their opposition, break up their alliances against the church, and come over to it. In proof of this interpretation, Rosenmuller appeals to the following places: 1Ch 12:19-20; 2Ch 15:9; Jer 21:9; Jer 39:9. The passage, therefore, looks to the future conversion of the enemies of the church to the true faith. It has, doubtless, been partially fulfilled in the conversion of nations that have been leagued against the gospel of the Redeemer. There was a striking fulfillment in the times that succeeded the persecutions of Christians in the Roman empire. After all the power of the empire had been enlisted in ten successive persecutions to destroy the church, the very empire that had thus opposed the church was converted to the Christian faith. In a still more signal manner will this be fulfilled when all the powers of the earth now leagued against the gospel shall be brought under the influences of the true religion.
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 To thee, in the inheritance. This was verified in…
To thee, in the inheritance. This was verified in the Church. We have no accout of many being converted before.
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 gather together, &c.--that is, If it should happen that…
gather together, &c.--that is, If it should happen that enemies "gather together" against thee (Psa 2:2), they will not have been sent by Me (compare Hos 8:4) as instruments of My wrath (nay, it will be with My disapproval); for "whosoever shall gather together," &c. (Psa 59:3).
fall for thy sake--rather, "shall come over to thy side" [LOWTH]. Literally, "fall to thee" (Jer 21:9; Jer 39:9). To be fully fulfilled to Jerusalem hereafter (Zac 14:16).
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 15. They shall surely gather together — That is,…
15. They shall surely gather together — That is, enemies, or opposing companies. Compacts shall still be formed against Zion.
But not by me — Not by my appointment. I may not hinder — I may permit for a time.
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Whosoever… against thee shall fall for thy sake — The scene presented seems to imply that Zion all along shall still have opposers. If God permits these oppositions, the spirit and power of his providence is, nevertheless, against them, and their opposition shall be ineffectual. Many opposers shall themselves fail and go to perdition, they having first fulfilled a permitted persecution to discipline Zion’s people, and thus strengthen their faith and fidelity. Others shall give up the strife and become friends of God: shall fall unto thee: a sense many of the later interpreters adopt. The Septuagint and Vulgate Versions, and some of the Targums, vary from this interpretation, but not seriously nor at all essentially. Since this day the Messianic period has advanced more than 2000 years further in history, and the interpretation has thus become general in its terms.
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 15. The verse is somewhat difficult. The rendering “gather…
15. The verse is somewhat difficult. The rendering “gather together” can hardly be defended, and moreover it does not suit the construction (“against,” in the second line, is really “with”). The verb is perhaps best explained as a by-form of a root meaning to “stir up” (strife) or pick a quarrel (Pro_15:18). The sense would be: If (any) should stir up strife (it is) not of me; whosoever stirs up strife with thee shall fall &c. (see R.V. and marg.)
fall because of thee] or perhaps “fall upon thee” to his own ruin (cf. ch. Isa_8:14 f.). R.V. marg. suggests “fall away to thee,” i.e. go over to thy side, which is the sense given by some of the ancient versions. The phrase has this meaning in Jer_21:9; Jer_37:14 (“fall away to the Chaldæans”), but it is little appropriate in this verse.
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 (15) But not by me . . .—Another contrast…
(15) But not by me . . .—Another contrast with Isaiah’s experience. The power of Sargon and Sennacherib rested on the fact that they were instruments in God’s hands (Isa_10:15; Isa_37:26). Against the new Jerusalem no command would be given such as had been given to them.
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 Behold, they shall surely gather together, etc.; rather, behold,…
Behold, they shall surely gather together, etc.; rather, behold, should they gather themselves together; i.e. should enemies collect and threaten thee with harm, be assured that the attack is not by me not my doing and that, therefore, it will come to nought. All those who gather together against thee shall falli.e. stumble and be overthrown through striking against thee. The rendering of the Authorized Version, "for thy sake," is quite indefensible.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Behold, they shall surely gather together
Isa_54:15
Behold, they shall surely gather together
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The adversaries of the Church defeated
The unwearied mischievous attempts of the adversaries of Gods people in the world, as they are made without God, so they shall end in shame to themselves.
I. THE ADVERSARIES OF GODS PEOPLE WILL BE UNWEARIEDLY ATTEMPTING MISCHIEF AGAINST THEM. They shall surely gather together. This is sure upon various grounds.
1. He who foreknows all their thoughts, inclinations and purposed from everlasting hath foretold it.
2. So long as there are any of the children of the devil out of hell, he will be inspiring them with malice against the Church of God on earth.
3. The very defeats and disappointments which the enemies of the Church receive make them renew their attempts with greater violence and fury. They are not the more disheartened, but the more exasperated.
4. The fearful expectation of future vengeance is a spur to their diligent use of all the present opportunities of sinning.
II. THESE ATTEMPTS ARE WITHOUT GOD. Not by Me.
1. The Churchs enemies can neither do nor contrive the doing of anything absolutely without God. No creature can subsist, no faculty can perform any of its operations, if Providence did not concur. All the plots which are formed beneath prove vain and fruitless unless there be permission given from above.
2. The enemies of the Church can do nothing effectually but as God really employs them to be the instruments of HIS just displeasure (Hab Psa_17:13-14; Isa_10:5; Isa_01:17; Isa_13:5).
3. The attempts of enemies against Gods people are, notwithstanding, without His approbation.
4. The attempts of enemies, when they have most success, are without Gods truly favourable presence.
5. The attempts of enemies at the time which the prophet here refers to will be without Gods assistance, and consequently without success.
III. THESE ATTEMPTS WILL ISSUE IN RUIN TO THEMSELVES. Whosoever shall gather together, etc.
1. The greatest attempt which was ever made by the devil against the Church, in the Person of Christ Himself, became the means of subverting his own kingdom.
2. The standing of the Churchs enemies is the most precarious and uncertain thing.
3. All that they have, or can have, to support and defend them, will not be sufficient when their appointed destruction comes (Isa_31:3).
4. The enemies of the Church are raised up for this purpose that God may honour himself upon them.
5. The greatest of enemies that the Church of God ever yet had have fallen, though once as likely to stand as any now or hereafter can be.
6. The present enemies of the Church have indeed begun to fall, which is a hopeful token that they shall surely fall.
IV. WHY SHALL THE ATTEMPTS OF THE ENEMIES OF GODS PEOPLE END THUS IN THEIR OWN RUIN? For thy sake.
1. Some read the words, They shall fall before thee, that thou mayest see it.
2. For thy sake cannot mean for thy merit, but for thy benefit.
3. For thy sake may mean, for the kindness and care which I bear to thee.
V. USE.
1. Security and distrust are sinful extremes and both to be avoided.
2. A people dear to God and peculiarly interested in Him, are in a far more blessed condition than all the earth besides.
3. The greatest danger which Gods people are or can be in, is when they engage God against them by sin, and provoke Him to favour their adversaries.
4. The obstructions of mercy are on our part, not on Gods.
5. The memorials of past mercies are to be preserved for our support in future difficulties. (T. Cruso.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continue speaking to the people of Jerusalem.
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stirs up trouble
This is an idiom. AT: "causes trouble" or "troubles you" (See: Idiom)
will fall in defeat
This is an idiom. AT: "you will defeat them in battle" (See: Idiom)
translationWords
trouble
create
works
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 54:15 God gives assurance that no nation can defeat…
54:15 God gives assurance that no nation can defeat his people . The Lord has promised to protect them, just as he had promised Abraham (Gen 12:3; see Isa 49:25).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.