Isaiah 14:31
in Isaiah 14Wail, O gate! Cry out, O city! Melt away, all you Philistines! For a cloud of smoke comes from the north, and there are no stragglers in its ranks.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou art melted away, O Philistia, all of thee; for there cometh a smoke out of the north, and there is no straggler in his ranks.
KJV
Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times.
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This verse in Isaiah 14
Commentary
10 notes on this verse(Verse 31.) Howl, O gate! Cry out, O city! Philisthaea is laid waste, all of it. For from the north comes smoke, and there is no escaping its horde. He calls the gate for those who are at the gate, and the city for the inhabitants of the city. He also directs his speech to the cities of the Philistines, saying that they should wail and mourn when Senacherib comes, and when the torrent ravages everything. For the Assyrian came under the reign of Hezekiah, and among other nations he devastated the Philistines.
This site's exposition
the year that King Ahaz died
on Isaiah 14:28-32
The Philistia burden is dated plainly, "In the year that King Ahaz died," a shorter burden. Philistia is told not to rejoice, because "a viper will spring from the root of the snake," a worse danger. Zion's poor find safety while smoke comes from the north against Philistia.
This site's exposition
Wail, O gate!
The gate stands for the crowd at the city gate. Clarke took the smoke from the north as the dust of Hezekiah's army on the march against the Philistines. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read it as a signal fire.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 31, 32.) O gate, howl; O city, cry out; Philisthea is completely destroyed. For smoke comes from the north, and there is no one who can escape its ranks. And what will be the response of the messengers of the nations, when it is declared that the Lord has founded Zion and the poor of his people will hope in it?
The Medieval Church1 voice
Howl. Here he threatens destruction by the Assyrians. And first, he threatens their destruction; second, the liberation of the Jews: and what shall be answered? (Isa 14:32). Concerning the first, he sets out three things. First, he threatens universal destruction: gate, that is, the judges …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Howl, O gate,.... Or gates of the cities of Palestine; the magistrates that sat there to execute judgment, or the people that passed through there; or because now obliged to open to their enemies; wherefore, instead of rejoicing, they are called to howling: cry, O city; or cities, the several cities of the land, as well as their chief, because of the destruction coming upon them.
The injuries done to them must be reckoned for and revenged upon their persecutors. Mercy to Jacob will be wrath and ruin to Jacob's impenitent implacable adversaries, such as Babylon was.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Howl, O gate - That is, ye who throng the gate. The gates of a city were the chief places of concourse. Cry, O city - The prophet here fixes the attention upon some principal city of Philistia, and calls upon it to be alarmed in view of the judgments that were about to come upon the whole land. Art dissolved - The word ‘dissolved’ (מוג mûg) is applied to that which melts, or which wastes away gradually, and then to that which faints or disappears. It means here that the kingdom of Philistia would disappear, or be destroyed.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
gate--that is, ye who throng the gate; the chief place of concourse in a city. from . . . north--Judea, north and east of Palestine. smoke--from the signal-fire, whereby a hostile army was called together; the Jews' signal-fire is meant here, the "pillar of cloud and fire," (Ex 13:21;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
There shall come from the north a smoke “From the north cometh a smoke” - That is, a cloud of dust raised by the march of Hezekiah’s army against Philistia; which lay to the south-west from Jerusalem. A great dust raised has, at a distance, the appearance of smoke: Fumantes pulvere campi; “The fields smoking with dust.” - Virg. Aen. 11:908.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֵילִ֤ילִֽי | heilili | wail | H3213 → | 30 times |
| שַׁ֙עַר֙ | shaar | O gate | H8179 → | 374 times |
| זַֽעֲקִי־ | zaaki- | cry out | H2199 → | 73 times |
| עִ֔יר | ʾir | O city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| נָמ֖וֹג | namog | melt away | H4127 → | |
| פְּלֶ֣שֶׁת | peleshet | O Philistia | H6429 → | |
| כֻּלֵּ֑ךְ | kulekh | all of you | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| כִּ֤י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| מִצָּפוֹן֙ | mitzafon | from [the] north | H6828 → | 153 times |
| עָשָׁ֣ן | ʾashan | smoke | H6227 → | 25 times |
| בָּ֔א | ba' | [is] coming | H935 → | 2568 times |
| וְאֵ֥ין | veein | and there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| בּוֹדֵ֖ד | boded | [is] an isolated [one] | H909 → | |
| בְּמוֹעָדָֽיו׃ | bemoadav | among ranks its | H4151 → |
הֵילִ֤ילִֽיwail
heililiH3213 →30 times
שַׁ֙עַר֙O gate
shaarH8179 →374 times
זַֽעֲקִי־cry out
zaaki-H2199 →73 times
עִ֔ירO city
ʾirH5892 →1090 times
נָמ֖וֹגmelt away
namogH4127 →
פְּלֶ֣שֶׁתO Philistia
peleshetH6429 →
כֻּלֵּ֑ךְall of you
kulekhH3605 →5413 times
כִּ֤יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
מִצָּפוֹן֙from [the] north
mitzafonH6828 →153 times
עָשָׁ֣ןsmoke
ʾashanH6227 →25 times
בָּ֔א[is] coming
ba'H935 →2568 times
וְאֵ֥יןand there not
veeinH369 →789 times
בּוֹדֵ֖ד[is] an isolated [one]
bodedH909 →
בְּמוֹעָדָֽיו׃among ranks its
bemoadavH4151 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 13:6Wail, for the Day of the LORD is near; it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
it leads to
- Joel 1:15
Alas for the day! For the Day of the LORD is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
- Ezekiel 30:2–3
“Son of man, prophesy and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Wail, ‘Alas for that day!’
- Isaiah 13:9
Behold, the Day of the LORD is coming—cruel, with fury and burning anger—to make the earth a desolation and to destroy the sinners within it.
- Amos 5:18
Woe to you who long for the Day of the LORD! What will the Day of the LORD be for you? It will be darkness and not light.
- Zephaniah 1:7
Be silent in the presence of the Lord GOD, for the Day of the LORD is near. Indeed, the LORD has prepared a sacrifice; He has consecrated His guests.
- Joel 1:15
Through
Isaiah 20:1Before the year that the chief commander, sent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and attacked and captured it,
it leads to
- 2 Kings 18:17
Nevertheless, the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh, along with a great army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They advanced up to Jerusalem and stationed themselves by…
- 2 Kings 18:17
Through
Isaiah 14:29Do not rejoice, all you Philistines, that the rod that struck you is broken. For a viper will spring from the root of the snake, and a flying serpent from its egg.
it leads to
- Isaiah 11:8
The infant will play by the cobra’s den, and the toddler will reach into the viper’s nest.
- 2 Chronicles 26:6
Uzziah went out to wage war against the Philistines, and he tore down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. Then he built cities near Ashdod and among the Philistines.
- Isaiah 11:8
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.