Isaiah 37:24
in Isaiah 37Through your servants you have taunted the Lord, and you have said: “With my many chariots I have ascended to the heights of the mountains, to the remote peaks of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the finest of its cypresses. I have reached its farthest heights, the densest of its forests.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
By thy servants hast thou defied the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir-trees thereof; and I will enter into its farthest height, the forest of its fruitful field;
KJV
By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel.
⋯
This verse in Isaiah 37
Commentary
9 notes on this verseBy thy servants “By thy messengers” - The text has עבדיך abdeycha, thy servants; but the true reading seems to be מלאכיך malacheycha, thy messengers, as in the other copy, 2Ki 19:23; and as the Septuagint and Syriac found it in their copies in this place. Reproached the Lord - אדני Adonai: but one of my MSS. has יהוה אדני Yehovah Adonai, Jehovah the Lord. This reading is not found, I think, in any other MS., but several have יהוה Yehovah for אדני Adonai.
This site's exposition
Against the Holy One of Israel
on Isaiah 37:23-25
The oracle names whom the boasting has reached: Against the Holy One of Israel, the title Isaiah uses more than any other book. The king's own words are quoted back to him: I have dug wells and drunk foreign waters. Barnes notes that Assyrian inscriptions make boasts of this kind.
This site's exposition
Through your servants you have taunted the Lord
Clarke notes that 2 Kings 19:23 reads by your messengers, which points to the Rabshakeh and the letter. Isaiah 2:13 names the cedars of Lebanon among the proud things the LORD will bring low. The LORD quotes the boast back to its author.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(v. 21 seqq.) However, Isaiah (also known as Josiah), the son of Amos, sent to Hezekiah saying: Thus says the Lord God of Israel: concerning what you asked me about Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, this is the word that the Lord spoke about him: He has despised you and mocked you, O virgin daughter of Zion. After you, the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head. Whom did you reproach and blaspheme? Against whom did you raise your voice and lift your eyes in pride, to the Holy One of Israel?
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, he accuses him of pride, which he drew from the greatness of his deeds: and you have said: with the multitude of my chariots, as though by my own power and not by God's, the top of Libanus, the summits of the mountains, that …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord,....
All the malice, and all the motions and projects, of the church's enemies, are under the cognizance and check of the church's God. Sennacherib was active and quick, here, and there, and every where, but God knew his going out and coming in, and had always an eye upon him,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
SMITH]. fir trees--not cypresses, as some translate; pine foliage and cedars are still found on the northwest side of Lebanon [STANLEY]. height of . . . border--In 2Ki 19:23, "the lodgings of his borders." Perhaps on the ascent to the top there was a place of repose or caravansary, which bounded the usual attempts of persons to ascend [BARNES].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-brackets
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
By thy servants - Hebrew, ‘By the hand of thy servants.’ That is, by Rabshakeh Isa. 36, and by those whom he had now sent to Hezekiah with letters Isa 37:9, Isa 37:14. And hast said - Isaiah does not here quote the precise words which Rabshakeh or the other messengers had used, but quotes the substance of what had been uttered, and expresses the real feelings and intentions of Sennacherib. By the multitude of my chariots - The word ‘chariots’ here denotes war-chariois (see the notes at Isa 2:7; Isa 66:20). To the height of the mountains - Lebanon is here particularly referred to. Chariots were commonly used, as cavalry was, in plains. But it is probable that Lebanon was accessible by chariots drawn by horses. To the sides of Lebanon - On the situation of Lebanon see the notes at Isa 10:34; Isa 29:17. Sennacherib is represented as having carried desolation to Lebanon, and as having cut down its stately trees (see the note at Isa 33:9). I will cut down the tall cedars thereof - Margin, ‘The tallness of the cedars thereof.’ The boast of Sennacherib was that he would strip it of its beauty and ornament; that is, that he would lay the land waste. And the choice fir-trees thereof - (see the note at Isa 14:8). The Septuagint renders it, Υπαρίσσου Uparissou - ‘The beauty of the cypress.’ The word here denotes the cypress, a tree resembling the white cedar. It grew on Lebanon, and, together with the cedar, constituted its glory. Its wood, like that of the cedar, was employed for the floors and ceilings of the temple 1Ki 5:10; 1Ki 6:15, 1Ki 6:34. It was used for the decks and sheathing of ships Eze 27:5, for spears Neh 2:4; and for musical instruments 2Sa 6:5. The height of his border - The extreme retreats; the furthest part of Lebanon. […]
The words behind it
23 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּיַ֣ד | beyad | by [the] hand of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| עֲבָדֶיךָ֮ | ʾavadeikha | servants your | H5650 → | 799 times |
| חֵרַ֣פְתָּ׀ | cherafta | you have taunted | H2778 → | 41 times |
| אֲדֹנָי֒ | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| וַתֹּ֗אמֶר | vatomer | and you have said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| בְּרֹ֥ב | bero | with [the] abundance of | H7230 → | 149 times |
| רִכְבִּ֛י | rikhbi | chariotry my | H7393 → | 119 times |
| אֲנִ֥י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| עָלִ֛יתִי | ʾaliti | I have gone up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| מְר֥וֹם | merom | [the] height[s] of | H4791 → | 54 times |
| הָרִ֖ים | harim | mountains | H2022 → | 546 times |
| יַרְכְּתֵ֣י | yarketei | [the] remotest parts of | H3411 → | 28 times |
| לְבָנ֑וֹן | levanon | Lebanon | H3844 → | 71 times |
| וְאֶכְרֹ֞ת | veekhrot | so I may cut down | H3772 → | 288 times |
| קוֹמַ֤ת | komat | [the] height of | H6967 → | |
| אֲרָזָיו֙ | ʾarazav | cedars its | H730 → | 73 times |
| מִבְחַ֣ר | mivchar | [the] choicest of | H4005 → | |
| בְּרֹשָׁ֔יו | beroshav | pines its | H1265 → | 20 times |
| וְאָבוֹא֙ | veavo' | so I may come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| מְר֣וֹם | merom | [to the] height of | H4791 → | 54 times |
| קִצּ֔וֹ | kitzo | end its | H7093 → | 67 times |
| יַ֖עַר | yaar | [the] forest of | H3293 → | 59 times |
| כַּרְמִלּֽוֹ׃ | karmilo | orchard its | H3759 → | 17 times |
בְּיַ֣דby [the] hand of
beyadH3027 →1618 times
עֲבָדֶיךָ֮servants your
ʾavadeikhaH5650 →799 times
חֵרַ֣פְתָּ׀you have taunted
cheraftaH2778 →41 times
אֲדֹנָי֒[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
וַתֹּ֗אמֶרand you have said
vatomerH559 →5305 times
בְּרֹ֥בwith [the] abundance of
beroH7230 →149 times
רִכְבִּ֛יchariotry my
rikhbiH7393 →119 times
אֲנִ֥יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
עָלִ֛יתִיI have gone up
ʾalitiH5927 →890 times
מְר֥וֹם[the] height[s] of
meromH4791 →54 times
הָרִ֖יםmountains
harimH2022 →546 times
יַרְכְּתֵ֣י[the] remotest parts of
yarketeiH3411 →28 times
לְבָנ֑וֹןLebanon
levanonH3844 →71 times
וְאֶכְרֹ֞תso I may cut down
veekhrotH3772 →288 times
קוֹמַ֤ת[the] height of
komatH6967 →
אֲרָזָיו֙cedars its
ʾarazavH730 →73 times
מִבְחַ֣ר[the] choicest of
mivcharH4005 →
בְּרֹשָׁ֔יוpines its
beroshavH1265 →20 times
וְאָבוֹא֙so I may come
veavo'H935 →2568 times
מְר֣וֹם[to the] height of
meromH4791 →54 times
קִצּ֔וֹend its
kitzoH7093 →67 times
יַ֖עַר[the] forest of
yaarH3293 →59 times
כַּרְמִלּֽוֹ׃orchard its
karmiloH3759 →17 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
Daniel 4:30the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built by the might of my power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:18
Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
- Revelation 18:10
In fear of her torment, they will stand at a distance and cry out: “Woe, woe to the great city, the mighty city of Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.”
- Ezekiel 29:3
Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says,…
- Isaiah 10:8–15
“Are not all my commanders kings?” he says.
- Revelation 17:5
And on her forehead a mysterious name was written: BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
- Proverbs 16:18
Through
Isaiah 29:17In a very short time, will not Lebanon become an orchard, and the orchard seem like a forest?
it leads to
- Isaiah 32:15
until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high. Then the desert will be an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest.
- Matthew 19:30
But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.
- Isaiah 32:15
Through
Isaiah 14:8Even the cypresses and cedars of Lebanon exult over you: “Since you have been laid low, no woodcutter comes against us.”
it leads to
- Ezekiel 31:16
I made the nations quake at the sound of its downfall, when I cast it down to Sheol with those who descend to the Pit. Then all the trees of Eden, the choicest and…
- Ezekiel 31:16
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); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.