Isaiah 28:19
in Isaiah 28As often as it passes through, it will carry you away; it will sweep through morning after morning, by day and by night.” The understanding of this message will bring sheer terror.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
As often as it passeth through, it shall take you; for morning by morning shall it pass through, by day and by night: and it shall be nought but terror to understand the message.
KJV
From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
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This verse in Isaiah 28
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you - It shall not delay, or be hindered, or put back. As soon as the judgment is sent forth from God it shall come upon you. For morning by morning - Continually; without intermission. It shall be like floods and tempests that have no intermission; that are repeated every day, and continued every night, until everything is swept before them.
This site's exposition
Your covenant with death will be dissolved
on Isaiah 28:18-20
"Your covenant with death will be dissolved", and the scourge Judah thought she had escaped will trample her, sweeping through "morning after morning". To understand the message "will bring sheer terror". Verse 20 gives a proverb for the failed plan: "the bed is too short to stretch out on".
This site's exposition
As often as it passes through
The scourge returns like a flood that rises again every morning. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown apply it to the repeated invasions Judah suffered after the ten tribes were carried away. Even the report of it will bring terror to those who hear.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Every time is suitable for your ablution, since any time may be your death. With Paul I shout to you with that loud voice, "Behold now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation";56 and that now does not point to any one time but is every present moment. And again "Awake, you that sleep, and Christ shall give you light," dispelling the darkness of sin. For as Isaiah says, "In the night hope is evil," and it is more profitable to be received in the morning.
(Verse 19). When it passes by, it will seize you; for it will pass through in the morning, in the day and at night, and its vexation will only give understanding to the ear. LXX: When it passes, it will lift you up in the morning, it will pass in the morning; day and night there will be the worst of hope. Learn to listen, you who are in tribulation: we cannot fight, for we ourselves are weak to be gathered.
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book 11, Section 41 · Written before 604.
proposed
Now righteous people conceive a dread of God before his indignation is stirred up against them; they fear him at rest, lest they should feel him as moved. But, on the other hand, the wicked then for the first time fear to be smitten when they are under the rod, and terror then rouses them from the sleep of their insensibility when vengeance is troubling them. And hence it is said by the prophet, "And only the vexing alone shall supply understanding to the hearing." For when they have begun to be stricken in vengeance for the contempt and neglect of God's precepts, then they understand the thing that they heard.
Third, the fruit of the exclusion, and vexation alone, above: Lord, they have sought after you in distress (Isa 26:16).
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
All this is confirmed by a comparison borrowed from the method which the husbandman takes with his ground and grain, according to which they must expect God would proceed with his people, whom he had lately called his threshing and the corn of his floor ( ch. xxi.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Pass over - It shall not only come to you, but it shall abide upon you; and when it hath passed over you, it shall return again to you, morning after morning; and shall follow you day and night, without giving you the least respite. The report - So dreadful shall the judgment be, that it shall strike you with horror, when you only hear the rumour of it.
From the time that it goeth forth, it shall take you,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
From the time, &c.--rather, "As often as it comes over (that is, passes through), it shall overtake you" [HORSLEY]; like a flood returning from time to time, frequent hostile invasions shall assail Judah, after the deportation of the ten tribes. vexation . . . understand . . . report--rather, "It shall be a terror even to hear the mere report of it" [MAURER], (1Sa 3:11).
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִדֵּ֤י | midei | as often as | H1767 → | 39 times |
| עָבְרוֹ֙ | avero | passes by it | H5674 → | 556 times |
| יִקַּ֣ח | yikach | it will take | H3947 → | 966 times |
| אֶתְכֶ֔ם | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| בַבֹּ֧קֶר | vaboker | in the morning | H1242 → | 214 times |
| בַּבֹּ֛קֶר | baboker | in the morning | H1242 → | 214 times |
| יַעֲבֹ֖ר | yaavor | it will pass by | H5674 → | 556 times |
| בַּיּ֣וֹם | baiyom | in the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| וּבַלָּ֑יְלָה | uvalayelah | and in the night | H3915 → | 233 times |
| וְהָיָ֥ה | vehayah | and it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| רַק־ | rak- | only | H7535 → | |
| זְוָעָ֖ה | zevaah | terror | H2113 → | |
| הָבִ֥ין | havin | to understand | H995 → | 170 times |
| שְׁמוּעָֽה׃ | shemuah | [the] message | H8052 → | 27 times |
מִדֵּ֤יas often as
mideiH1767 →39 times
עָבְרוֹ֙passes by it
averoH5674 →556 times
יִקַּ֣חit will take
yikachH3947 →966 times
אֶתְכֶ֔ם<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
בַבֹּ֧קֶרin the morning
vabokerH1242 →214 times
בַּבֹּ֛קֶרin the morning
babokerH1242 →214 times
יַעֲבֹ֖רit will pass by
yaavorH5674 →556 times
בַּיּ֣וֹםin the day
baiyomH3117 →2304 times
וּבַלָּ֑יְלָהand in the night
uvalayelahH3915 →233 times
וְהָיָ֥הand it will be
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
רַק־only
rak-H7535 →
זְוָעָ֖הterror
zevaahH2113 →
הָבִ֥יןto understand
havinH995 →170 times
שְׁמוּעָֽה׃[the] message
shemuahH8052 →27 times
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
Habakkuk 3:16I heard and trembled within; my lips quivered at the sound. Decay entered my bones; I trembled where I stood. Yet I must wait patiently for the day of distress to come upon the…
it leads to
- Daniel 10:8
So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision. No strength remained in me; my face grew deathly pale, and I was powerless.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 23:9
As for the prophets: My heart is broken within me, and all my bones tremble. I have become like a drunkard, like a man overcome by wine, because of the LORD, because of His…
- Habakkuk 1:5–11
“Look at the nations and observe—be utterly astounded! For I am doing a work in your days that you would never believe even if someone told you.
- Habakkuk 3:2
O LORD, I have heard the report of You; I stand in awe, O LORD, of Your deeds. Revive them in these years; make them known in these years. In Your wrath, remember mercy!
- Jeremiah 25:9–11
behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents,…
- Daniel 10:8
Through
Daniel 7:28Thus ends the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts troubled me greatly, and my face turned pale. But I kept the matter to myself.”
it leads to
Through
Daniel 8:27I, Daniel, was exhausted and lay ill for days. Then I got up and went about the king’s business. I was confounded by the vision; it was beyond understanding.
it leads to
- Daniel 7:28
Thus ends the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts troubled me greatly, and my face turned pale. But I kept the matter to myself.”
- Daniel 7:28
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Isaiah
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory of Nazianzus, ON HOLY BAPTISM, ORATION 40:13; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book 11, Section 41; 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.