Isaiah 30:33
in Isaiah 30For Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its funeral pyre is deep and wide, with plenty of fire and wood. The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For a Topheth is prepared of old; yea, for the king it is made ready; he hath made it deep and large; the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of Jehovah, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.
KJV
For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.
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This verse in Isaiah 30
Commentary
11 notes on this verse688. For Topheth is prepared. Here he describes the place of punishment. And first, its disposition: Topheth, the valley of the son of Ennom, Gehenna, for the fire for sacrifices was kept there on stones of tufa (Tophis); this is the same as the valley …
This site's exposition
Assyria will be shattered
on Isaiah 30:31-33
Assyria falls "at the voice of the LORD". For the king, "Topheth has long been prepared", its pyre "deep and wide, with plenty of fire and wood". Adam Clarke and Albert Barnes noted that the power Judah fled to Egypt to escape stood under a judgment prepared long ago.
This site's exposition
Topheth has long been prepared
Topheth lay in the Valley of Hinnom, where children had been burned to Molech. Wesley noted that the place came to stand for hell itself. The pyre made ready for the king of Assyria is lit by the breath of the LORD.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 30 and following) And the Lord will cause the glory of His voice to be heard, and He will show the terror of His arm in the threat of His fury and the devouring flame of fire. He will strike with whirlwind and hailstones. At the voice of the Lord, Assyria will tremble, struck down like a virgin, and there will be a passage firmly established by the rod: which the Lord will cause to rest upon him with timbrels and harps, and in battles He will conquer them in principal places.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
It may be put, for any place of torment; and particularly it is put for hell. For the king - For the king of Assyria. Fire - He alludes to the ancient custom, of burning sacrifices, and particularly of burning children to Moloch.
Now as the prophet, in the foregoing promises, slides insensibly into the promises of gospel graces and comforts, so here, in the threatening of the ruin of Sennacherib's army, he points at the final and everlasting destruction of all impenitent sinners.
For Tophet is ordained of old,....
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.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Tophet--literally, "A place of abomination"; the valley of the sons of Hinnom, southeast of Jerusalem, where Israel offered human sacrifices to Moloch by fire; hence a place of burning (2Ki 23:10; Latterly Gehinnom or Gehenna, that is, valley of Hinnom, was the receptacle of the refuse of the city, to consume which fires were constantly burning.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
For Tophet is ordained - Tophet is a valley very near to Jerusalem, to the southeast, called also the valley of Hinnom or Gehenna; where the Canaanites, and afterwards the Israelites, sacrificed their children, by making them pass through the fire, that is, by burning them in the fire, to Molech, as some suppose. It is therefore used for a place of punishment by fire; and by our blessed Savior in the Gospel for hell-fire, as the Jews themselves had applied it. See Chald. on Isa 33:14, where מוקדי עלם mokedey olam is rendered “the Gehenna of everlasting fire.” Here the place where the Assyrian army was destroyed is called Tophet by a metonymy; for the Assyrian army was destroyed probably at a greater distance from Jerusalem, and quite on the opposite side of it: for Nob is mentioned as the last station, from which the king of Assyria should threaten Jerusalem, Isa 10:32, where the prophet seems to have given a very exact chorographical description of his march in order to attack the city; which however he never reached. - L.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For Tophet - The same idea is conveyed in this verse as in the preceding, but under another form, and with a new illustration. The sense is, that the army of the Assyrians would be completely destroyed, as if it were a large pile of wood in the valley of Hinnom that should be fired by the breath of God.
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| עָר֤וּךְ | ʾarukh | [is] arranged | H6186 → | 74 times |
| מֵֽאֶתְמוּל֙ | meetmul | from yesterday | H865 → | |
| תָּפְתֶּ֔ה | tafeteh | a place of burning | H8613 → | |
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| הִ֛יא | hu' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| לַמֶּ֥לֶךְ | lamelekh | for the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| הוּכָ֖ן | hukhan | it has been prepared | H3559 → | 217 times |
| הֶעְמִ֣יק | he'mik | someone has made [it] deep | H6009 → | 9 times |
| הִרְחִ֑ב | hirchiv | someone has made [it] large | H7337 → | 25 times |
| מְדֻרָתָ֗הּ | meduratah | wood pile its | H4071 → | |
| אֵ֤שׁ | ʾesh | [is] fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| וְעֵצִים֙ | veetzim | and wood<s> | H6086 → | 328 times |
| הַרְבֵּ֔ה | harbeh | much | H7235 → | 227 times |
| נִשְׁמַ֤ת | nishmat | [the] breath of | H5397 → | 24 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כְּנַ֣חַל | kenachal | like a torrent of | H5158 → | 141 times |
| גָּפְרִ֔ית | gaferit | sulfur | H1614 → | |
| בֹּעֲרָ֖ה | boarah | [is] about to burn | H1197 → | 94 times |
| בָּֽהּ׃ ס | bah | <in> <the> it |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
עָר֤וּךְ[is] arranged
ʾarukhH6186 →74 times
מֵֽאֶתְמוּל֙from yesterday
meetmulH865 →
תָּפְתֶּ֔הa place of burning
tafetehH8613 →
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
הִ֛יאit
hu'H1931 →1879 times
לַמֶּ֥לֶךְfor the king
lamelekhH4428 →2525 times
הוּכָ֖ןit has been prepared
hukhanH3559 →217 times
הֶעְמִ֣יקsomeone has made [it] deep
he'mikH6009 →9 times
הִרְחִ֑בsomeone has made [it] large
hirchivH7337 →25 times
מְדֻרָתָ֗הּwood pile its
meduratahH4071 →
אֵ֤שׁ[is] fire
ʾeshH784 →378 times
וְעֵצִים֙and wood<s>
veetzimH6086 →328 times
הַרְבֵּ֔הmuch
harbehH7235 →227 times
נִשְׁמַ֤ת[the] breath of
nishmatH5397 →24 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
כְּנַ֣חַלlike a torrent of
kenachalH5158 →141 times
גָּפְרִ֔יתsulfur
gaferitH1614 →
בֹּעֲרָ֖ה[is] about to burn
boarahH1197 →94 times
בָּֽהּ׃ ס<in> <the> it
bah
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
Hebrews 13:8Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
it leads to
- Malachi 3:6
“Because I, the LORD, do not change, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.
- James 1:17
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.
- Revelation 1:8
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and was and is to come—the Almighty.
- Hebrews 1:12
You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed; but You remain the same, and Your years will never end.”
- Isaiah 44:6
Thus says the LORD, the King and Redeemer of Israel, the LORD of Hosts: “I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God but Me.
- Malachi 3:6
Through
1 Peter 1:8Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy,
it leads to
- John 20:29
Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
- 2 Corinthians 5:7
For we walk by faith, not by sight.
- Romans 15:13
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
- John 20:29
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
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 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 (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.