Isaiah 3:25
in Isaiah 3Your men will fall by the sword, and your warriors in battle.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.
KJV
Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.
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This verse in Isaiah 3
Commentary
7 notes on this verse(Verse 25.) Your most beautiful men will fall by the sword, and your strong men in battle. For the most beautiful men, they are interpreted as seventy, and your most beautiful son, whom you love, will fall by the sword. But if we understand about the state of the soul, which after virtues has sinned, let us accept the good works, which have fallen by the enemy sword, as the most beautiful son of his. And strong men also perish in battle, because the righteousness of the righteous will not deliver him on any day he wanders (Ezekiel 33:12).
This site's exposition
Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war
on Isaiah 3:25-26
Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war widens the judgment from ornament and dress to the loss of the city's own defenders, the daughters left without the husbands the finery of the previous verses was meant to attract. Her gates shall lament and mourn pictures the very entrances of the city grieving as mourners would, the city itself personified as a widow. She being desolate shall sit upon the ground closes the chapter in the posture ancient mourning took, sitting in the dust, and the picture continues directly into chapter four's scene of seven women left to one man.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
128. Your fairest men. Here he takes away the comfort of men from them as to four things. Women delight in the beauty of men, and as to this, he says: your fairest men also shall fall by the sword: her Nazarites were whiter than …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Thy men shall fall by the sword,.... Of the Romans; which would be a punishment to the women for their pride and luxury, being deprived thereby of their husbands: and thy mighty in the war; of Vespasian and Titus, and which the Jews (i) call פולמוס של אספסינוס, "the war of Vespasian": in which great multitudes of men, even of mighty men, were slain. (i) Misn. Sabbat, c. 6. sect. 3.
): Thy men shall fall by the sword, and the mighty in the war, The fire shall consume them, and then the maidens shall not be given in marriage; as it is, Ps. lxxviii. When the sword comes with commission the mighty commonly fall first by it, because they are most forward to venture. And, when Zion's guards are cut off, no marvel that Zion's gates lament and mourn (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Thy mighty men - For גבורתך geburathech an ancient MS. has גבורך gibborech. The true reading, from the Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac, and Chaldee, seems to be גבוריך gibborayich.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Thy men - This is an address to Jerusalem itself, by a change not uncommon in the writings of Isaiah. In the calamities coming on them, their strong men should be overcome, and fall in battle.
The words behind it
5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מְתַ֖יִךְ | metayikh | men your | H4962 → | 22 times |
| בַּחֶ֣רֶב | bacherev | by the sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| יִפֹּ֑לוּ | yipolu | they will fall | H5307 → | 435 times |
| וּגְבוּרָתֵ֖ךְ | ugevuratekh | and strength your | H1369 → | 61 times |
| בַּמִּלְחָמָֽה׃ | bamilchamah | in <the> battle | H4421 → | 320 times |
מְתַ֖יִךְmen your
metayikhH4962 →22 times
בַּחֶ֣רֶבby the sword
bacherevH2719 →413 times
יִפֹּ֑לוּthey will fall
yipoluH5307 →435 times
וּגְבוּרָתֵ֖ךְand strength your
ugevuratekhH1369 →61 times
בַּמִּלְחָמָֽה׃in <the> battle
bamilchamahH4421 →320 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
Jeremiah 19:7And in this place I will ruin the plans of Judah and Jerusalem. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, by the hands of those who seek their lives, and…
it leads to
- Leviticus 26:17
And I will set My face against you, so that you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when no one pursues you.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 16:4
“They will die from deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried, but will lie like dung on the ground. They will be finished off by sword and famine, and their corpses will…
- Leviticus 26:17
Through
Lamentations 2:21Both young and old lie together in the dust of the streets. My young men and maidens have fallen by the sword. You have slain them in the day of Your anger; You have…
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 36:17
So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who put their young men to the sword in the sanctuary, sparing neither young men nor young women, neither elderly nor infirm. God…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Zechariah 11:6
For I will no longer have compassion on the people of the land, declares the LORD, but behold, I will cause each man to fall into the hands of his neighbor and his king,…
- Jeremiah 13:14
I will smash them against one another, fathers and sons alike, declares the LORD. I will allow no mercy or pity or compassion to keep Me from destroying them.’”
- 2 Chronicles 36:17
Through
Jeremiah 11:22So this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “I will punish them. Their young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters by famine.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 18:21
Therefore, hand their children over to famine; pour out the power of the sword upon them. Let their wives become childless and widowed; let their husbands be slain by disease, their young men struck…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 18:21
Through
Jeremiah 18:21Therefore, hand their children over to famine; pour out the power of the sword upon them. Let their wives become childless and widowed; let their husbands be slain by disease, their young men struck…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 9:21
For death has climbed in through our windows; it has entered our fortresses to cut off the children from the streets, the young men from the town squares.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 9:21
Through
2 Chronicles 29:9For behold, this is why our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and daughters and wives are in captivity.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 28:17
The Edomites had again come and attacked Judah and carried away captives.
- 2 Chronicles 28:17
About Isaiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.