Isaiah 30:13
in Isaiah 30this iniquity of yours is like a breach about to fail, a bulge in a high wall, whose collapse will come suddenly—in an instant!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly in an instant.
KJV
Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.
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This verse in Isaiah 30
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Therefore this iniquity - That is, this refusing to trust in Yahweh, and this intention to seek the alliance of Egypt. The general sense of the figure here is, that their depending on Egypt would involve them ultimately in complete and awful ruin - ruin that should come upon them as suddenly as when a wall that had been long swelling out gives way. As a breach ready to fall - Like a breaking forth, or a bursting in a wall.
This site's exposition
trusting in oppression and relying on deceit
on Isaiah 30:12-14
The people are charged with "trusting in oppression and relying on deceit". Their iniquity becomes "a bulge in a high wall, whose collapse will come suddenly". It breaks like a "potter’s jar", leaving no shard "to scoop the coals from a hearth or to skim the water from a cistern".
This site's exposition
a bulge in a high wall
The iniquity is the Egypt alliance of verses 1 and 2. Barnes pictured a wall that swells outward for a long time and then gives way all at once. The ruin looks slow and arrives in an instant.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(vv. 12-14) Therefore thus says the Holy Lord of Israel: Because you have rejected this word and have put your trust in oppression and in deceit, and have relied on it, therefore this iniquity shall be for you like a breach in a high wall that is sought after and cannot be found, like a jar of clay that is broken beyond repair, so that no fragment of it is found for taking fire from the hearth or for drawing water from the cistern.
The Medieval Church1 voice
And he adds the punishment, where it says, therefore shall this iniquity be to you, signifying sudden punishment by the likeness of ruin, which lies hidden for a long time in a wall that falls suddenly in the end: for the destruction thereof shall come …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Observe, [1.] Who it is that gives judgment upon them: Thus saith the Holy One of Israel. That title of God which they particularly excepted against the prophet makes use of. Faithful ministers will not be driven from using such expressions as are proper to awaken sinners, though they be displeasing.
A gracious promise to those who trusted in God, that they should not only see through the trouble, but should see happy days after it, times of joy and reformation, plenty of the means of grace, and therewith plenty of outward good things and increasing joys and triumphs (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall,....
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Swelling out to a high wall “A swelling in a high wall” - It has been observed before, that the buildings of Asia generally consist of little better than what we call mud walls. “All the houses at Ispahan, “says Thevenot, Vol. II., p. 159, “are built of bricks made of clay and straw, and dried in the sun; and covered with a plaster made of a fine white stone. In other places in Persia the houses are built with nothing else but such bricks, made with tempered clay and chopped straw, well mingled together, and dried in the sun, and then used: but the least rain dissolves them. “Sir John Chardin’s MS. remark on this place of Isaiah is very apposite: Murs en Asie etant faits de terre se fendent ainsi par milieu et de haut en bas. “The walls in Asia being made of earth often cleave from top to bottom.” This shouts clearly how obvious and expressive the image is. The psalmist has in the same manner made use of it, to express sudden and utter destruction: - “Ye shall be slain all of you; Ye shall be like an inclining wall, like a shattered fence.” Psa 62:4.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָכֵ֗ן | lakhen | <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| יִֽהְיֶ֤ה | yihyeh | it will become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לָכֶם֙ | lakhem | for you | ||
| הֶעָוֹ֣ן | heavon | the iniquity | H5771 → | 233 times |
| הַזֶּ֔ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| כְּפֶ֣רֶץ | keferetz | like a breach | H6556 → | |
| נֹפֵ֔ל | nofel | about to fall | H5307 → | 435 times |
| נִבְעֶ֖ה | niveh | bulging | H1158 → | 5 times |
| בְּחוֹמָ֣ה | bechomah | in a wall | H2346 → | 133 times |
| נִשְׂגָּבָ֑ה | nisgavah | high | H7682 → | 20 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| פִּתְאֹ֥ם | pitom | suddenly | H6597 → | 25 times |
| לְפֶ֖תַע | lefeta' | to suddenness | H6621 → | |
| יָב֥וֹא | yavo' | it will come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| שִׁבְרָֽהּ׃ | shivrah | breaking its | H7667 → | 45 times |
לָכֵ֗ן<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
יִֽהְיֶ֤הit will become
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
לָכֶם֙for you
lakhem
הֶעָוֹ֣ןthe iniquity
heavonH5771 →233 times
הַזֶּ֔ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
כְּפֶ֣רֶץlike a breach
keferetzH6556 →
נֹפֵ֔לabout to fall
nofelH5307 →435 times
נִבְעֶ֖הbulging
nivehH1158 →5 times
בְּחוֹמָ֣הin a wall
bechomahH2346 →133 times
נִשְׂגָּבָ֑הhigh
nisgavahH7682 →20 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
פִּתְאֹ֥םsuddenly
pitomH6597 →25 times
לְפֶ֖תַעto suddenness
lefeta'H6621 →
יָב֥וֹאit will come
yavo'H935 →2568 times
שִׁבְרָֽהּ׃breaking its
shivrahH7667 →45 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
Proverbs 29:1A man who remains stiff-necked after much reproof will suddenly be shattered beyond recovery.
it leads to
- Proverbs 6:15
Therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in an instant he will be shattered beyond recovery.
- 1 Samuel 2:25
If a man sins against another man, God can intercede for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to their father, since…
- Proverbs 28:18
He who walks with integrity will be kept safe, but whoever is perverse in his ways will suddenly fall.
- Proverbs 1:24–31
Because you refused my call, and no one took my outstretched hand,
- Zechariah 7:11–14
But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they stopped up their ears from hearing.
- Proverbs 6:15
Through
Psalms 62:3How long will you threaten a man? Will all of you throw him down like a leaning wall or a tottering fence?
it leads to
- Jeremiah 4:14
Wash the evil from your heart, O Jerusalem, so that you may be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts within you?
- Psalms 140:2
who devise evil in their hearts and stir up war all day long.
- Jeremiah 4:14
Through
Isaiah 29:5But your many foes will be like fine dust, the multitude of the ruthless like blowing chaff. Then suddenly, in an instant,
it leads to
- 1 Thessalonians 5:3
While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
About Isaiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.