Isaiah 32:19
in Isaiah 32But hail will level the forest, and the city will sink to the depths.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But it shall hail in the downfall of the forest; and the city shall be utterly laid low.
KJV
When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place.
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This verse in Isaiah 32
Commentary
11 notes on this verseHail, namely, of tribulation, in the descent of the forest, that is, it shall descend from the Lord upon your enemies; the city, Ninive, above: the high city he shall lay low (Isa 26:5).
This site's exposition
it shall hail, coming down on the forest
on Isaiah 32:19-20
The hail that comes down on the forest and brings the city low even as this new order is announced reads to the older commentators as a last aftershock of judgment before the settled peace fully arrives, a note of realism rather than a reversal of the promise. The chapter's closing beatitude, blessed are ye that sow beside all waters and send forth the feet of the ox and the ass, pictures abundant, undefended farming, cattle at work in fields where soldiers had stood. Gill reads the image as peace so complete that beasts of burden labor without fear of raid, the exact opposite of the trampled vineyards lamented earlier in the chapter.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 9 and following) Women of wealth, rise up and listen to my voice: confident daughters, hear my words. After days and years, you will be troubled, O confident ones: for the harvest is complete, and there will be no more gathering. O women of wealth, be astounded, be troubled: strip yourselves and be ashamed. As Symmachus interpreted, expose yourselves: it continues. Gird your loins, beat your breasts, over the desirable region, over the fertile vineyard: over the ground of my people, thorns and thistles will grow: how much more over all the houses of the joyful city?
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
The city - Jerusalem, which, though now it was the seat of God's worship and people, yet he foresaw, would be the great enemy of the Messiah. Low - Hebrew. shall be humbled with humiliation: shall be greatly humbled, or brought very low.
Those that would dwell in a peaceable habitation must be willing to dwell low, and in a low place. Some think here is an allusion to the preservation of the land of Goshen from the plague of hail, which made great destruction in the land of Egypt.
), which promise may be supposed to look as far forward as the days of the Messiah. 1 Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
When it shall hail, coming down on the forest,....
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
When it shall hail - Hebrew, ברדת ברד bârad beredeth - ‘And it shall hail in coming down. There is a paranomasia in the original here, which cannot be expressed in a translation - a figure of speech, which, as we have seen, is common in Isaiah. ‘Hail’ is an image of divine vengeance or punishment; and the reference here is, doubtless, to the storms of indignation that would come on the enemies of the Jews, particularly on the Assyrians (see the notes at Isa 30:30).
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Address to the women of Jerusalem who troubled themselves little about the political signs of the times, but lived a life of self-indulgence (Isa 3:16-23); the failure of food through the devastations of the enemy is here foretold, being what was most likely to affect them as mothers of families, heretofore accustomed to every luxury.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Literally, "But it shall hail with coming down of the forest, and in lowness shall the city (Nineveh) be brought low; that is, humbled." The "hail" is Jehovah's wrathful visitation (Isa 30:30; The "forest" is the Assyrian host, dense as the trees of a forest (Isa 10:18, 19, 33, 34;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The city shalt be low all a low place. “The city shall be laid level with the plain” - For ובשפלה ubashephelah, the Syriac reads וכשפלה ukeshephelah. The city - probably Nineveh or Babylon: but this verse is very obscure. Saltus; Assyriorum regnum: civitas; magnifica Assyriorum castra. Ephrem Syr. ire loc. For וברד ubarad, a MS. has וירד vaiyered; and so conjectured Abp. Secker, referring to Zec 11:2.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּבָרַ֖ד | uvarad | and it will hail | H1258 → | |
| בְּרֶ֣דֶת | beredet | when comes down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| הַיָּ֑עַר | haiyaar | the forest | H3293 → | 59 times |
| וּבַשִּׁפְלָ֖ה | uvashiflah | and with <the> lowness | H8218 → | |
| תִּשְׁפַּ֥ל | tishpal | it will become low | H8213 → | 31 times |
| הָעִֽיר׃ | hair | the city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
וּבָרַ֖דand it will hail
uvaradH1258 →
בְּרֶ֣דֶתwhen comes down
beredetH3381 →381 times
הַיָּ֑עַרthe forest
haiyaarH3293 →59 times
וּבַשִּׁפְלָ֖הand with <the> lowness
uvashiflahH8218 →
תִּשְׁפַּ֥לit will become low
tishpalH8213 →31 times
הָעִֽיר׃the city
hairH5892 →1090 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
Isaiah 30:30And the LORD will cause His majestic voice to be heard and His mighty arm to be revealed, striking in angry wrath with a flame of consuming fire, and with cloudburst, storm, and hailstones.
it leads to
- Isaiah 29:6
you will be visited by the LORD of Hosts with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, with windstorm and tempest and consuming flame of fire.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 28:2
Behold, the Lord has one who is strong and mighty. Like a hailstorm or destructive tempest, like a driving rain or flooding downpour, he will smash that crown to the ground.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 11:19
Then the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple. And there were flashes of lightning, and rumblings, and peals of thunder, and an earthquake,…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 18:13–14
The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded— hailstones and coals of fire.
- Isaiah 29:6
Through
Isaiah 28:17I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the level. Hail will sweep away your refuge of lies, and water will flood your hiding place.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 21:13
I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab, and I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes out a bowl—wiping…
- 2 Kings 21:13
Through
Isaiah 26:5For He has humbled those who dwell on high; He lays the lofty city low. He brings it down to the ground; He casts it into the dust.
it leads to
- Revelation 18:2
And he cried out in a mighty voice: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a lair for demons and a haunt for every unclean spirit, every unclean bird, and every detestable…
- Job 40:11–13
Unleash the fury of your wrath; look on every proud man and bring him low.
- Jeremiah 51:37
Babylon will become a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals, an object of horror and scorn, without inhabitant.
- Revelation 18:2
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.