Isaiah 30:28
in Isaiah 30His breath is like a rushing torrent that rises to the neck. He comes to sift the nations in a sieve of destruction; He bridles the jaws of the peoples to lead them astray.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and his breath is as an overflowing stream, that reacheth even unto the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction: and a bridle that causeth to err shall be in the jaws of the peoples.
KJV
And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err.
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This verse in Isaiah 30
Commentary
11 notes on this verseTo sift the nations with a sieve of vanity “To toss the nations with the van of perdition” - The word להנפה lahanaphah is in its form very irregular. Kimchi says it is for להניף lehaniph. Houbigant supposes it to be a mistake, and shows the cause of it; the joining it to the ה he, which should begin the following word.
This site's exposition
the name of the Lord cometh from far
on Isaiah 30:27-28
The name of the Lord itself is pictured arriving from far off, burning with anger, lips full of indignation and a tongue as devouring fire, the judgment now given a face rather than only an event. His breath is an overflowing stream reaching to the neck, sifting the nations with a sieve of vanity and setting a bridle in the jaws of the peoples that causes them to err, imagery of a rider controlling a beast he intends to lead astray. Barnes reads the bridle as directed at Assyria specifically, the same power that had bridled other nations now finding itself led where it did not intend to go.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Vers. 27 seqq.) Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar: His burning anger and heaviness to bear. His lips are filled with indignation, and his tongue is like a devouring fire. His breath is like a torrent overflowing to the middle of the neck, to destroy nations for nothing, and the bridle of error that was in the jaws of the people.
The Medieval Church1 voice
He also sets out wrath in his work: his breath, that is, his indignation, overflowing even to the midst of the neck, that is, it will lead to their extinction, above: there shall pass through Judah, overflowing wrath (Isa 8:8). 686. Third, he sets out …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Five things are here prepared for the execution:-- 1. Here is an overflowing stream, that shall reach to the midst of the neck, shall quite overwhelm the whole body of the army, and Sennacherib only, the head of it, shall keep above water and escape this stroke, while yet he is reserved for another in the house of Nisroch his god.
The great God can sift nations, for they are all before him as the small dust of the balance; he will sift them, not to gather out of them any that should be preserved, but so as to shake them one against another, put them into great consternation, and shake them all away at last; for it is a sieve of vanity (which retains nothing) that they are shaken with, and they are found all chaff.
A stream - Coming from him as vehemently, as a mighty torrent of waters. To sift - To shake and scatter, as it were with a sieve. The nations - The Assyrian army, which was made up of several nations.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And his breath as an overflowing stream,....
Against the Syrians they sought to the Assyrians, 2 Kings xvi. Against the Assyrians they here sought to the Egyptians, and Rabshakeh upbraided them with so doing, 2 Kings xviii. How this sin of theirs is described, and what there was in it that was provoking to God.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
"People," Hebrew, "peoples," namely, the various races composing the Assyrian armies (Isa 5:26).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And his breath - The word רוח rûach properly means “wind,” air in motion; then a breathing, an exhalation, a breath; then the soul, spirit, etc. The idea here seems to be that of excited, and rapid, and agitated breathing, as when one is in anger (compare Jdg 8:3; Zec 6:8). As an overflowing stream - This figure is common to express desolating judgments (see the notes at Isa 8:8; Isa 10:22; Isa 28:17; compare Psa 69:2, Psa 69:15). Shall reach to the midst of the neck - Isaiah Isa 8:8, in describing the invasion of Sennacherib, and comparing it to an oveflowing torrent, says it would ‘reach even to the neck;’ that is, it would overflow the land, and even approach the head, the capital, but that that would be spared. By the use of a similar figure, and perhaps referring to that, he here says, that the judgment of God would overflow the army of the Assyrians, but that it would approach only to the neck, the head would still be spared; the commander and sovereign would not be destroyed. In accordance with this prediction, the angel in one night, as with an overflowing flood, cut off the army, and yet spared the sovereign, Sennacherib, who escaped with his life Isa 37:36-37. The word rendered ‘shall reach’ (רחצה yechĕtseh) properly means “shall divide,” or cut into two parts Gen 33:8; Num 31:37, Num 31:42; Jdg 9:43; and the idea here seems to be that a man who is in the water seems to be “divided” into two parts, one part above, and one in the water. To sift the nations - Doubtless many nations were laid under requisition to furnish an army so large as that of Sennaherib, as the kingdom of Assyria was made up of a number of tributary people and provinces. The word rendered ‘to sift’ refers to the act of winnowing or fanning grain, in which the grain is “tossed” or thrown from the shovel into the air. […]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְרוּח֞וֹ | verucho | and breath his | H7307 → | 378 times |
| כְּנַ֤חַל | kenachal | [is] like a torrent | H5158 → | 141 times |
| שׁוֹטֵף֙ | shotef | overflowing | H7857 → | 31 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| צַוָּ֣אר | tzavar | [the] neck | H6677 → | 42 times |
| יֶֽחֱצֶ֔ה | yechetzeh | it reaches | H2673 → | |
| לַהֲנָפָ֥ה | lahanafah | for shaking | H5130 → | 37 times |
| גוֹיִ֖ם | goyim | nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| בְּנָ֣פַת | benafat | in a sieve of | H5299 → | |
| שָׁ֑וְא | shav' | worthlessness | H7723 → | 53 times |
| וְרֶ֣סֶן | veresen | and a halter | H7448 → | |
| מַתְעֶ֔ה | mateh | [which] leads astray | H8582 → | 50 times |
| עַ֖ל | ʾal | [is] on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| לְחָיֵ֥י | lechayei | [the] jaws of | H3895 → | |
| עַמִּֽים׃ | ʾamim | peoples | H5971 → | 1873 times |
וְרוּח֞וֹand breath his
veruchoH7307 →378 times
כְּנַ֤חַל[is] like a torrent
kenachalH5158 →141 times
שׁוֹטֵף֙overflowing
shotefH7857 →31 times
עַד־to
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
צַוָּ֣אר[the] neck
tzavarH6677 →42 times
יֶֽחֱצֶ֔הit reaches
yechetzehH2673 →
לַהֲנָפָ֥הfor shaking
lahanafahH5130 →37 times
גוֹיִ֖םnations
goyimH1471 →561 times
בְּנָ֣פַתin a sieve of
benafatH5299 →
שָׁ֑וְאworthlessness
shav'H7723 →53 times
וְרֶ֣סֶןand a halter
veresenH7448 →
מַתְעֶ֔ה[which] leads astray
matehH8582 →50 times
עַ֖ל[is] on
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
לְחָיֵ֥י[the] jaws of
lechayeiH3895 →
עַמִּֽים׃peoples
ʾamimH5971 →1873 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
Luke 22:31Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 5:8
Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
- Zechariah 3:1
Then the angel showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, with Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.
- Job 1:6–12
One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them.
- Revelation 12:10
And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our…
- Job 2:1–6
On another day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them to present himself before Him.
- 1 Peter 5:8
Through
Isaiah 11:4but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and with equity He will decide for the lowly of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and slay the…
it leads to
- Revelation 19:15
And from His mouth proceeds a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 19:15
Through
2 Thessalonians 2:8And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of His mouth and annihilate by the majesty of His arrival.
it leads to
- 2 Thessalonians 2:3
Let no one deceive you in any way, for it will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness—the son of destruction—is revealed.
- Revelation 19:20–21
But the beast was captured along with the false prophet, who on its behalf had performed signs deceiving those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. Both the beast and…
- 2 Thessalonians 2:3
About Isaiah
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
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); 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.