Isaiah 37:27
in Isaiah 37Therefore their inhabitants, devoid of power, are dismayed and ashamed. They are like plants in the field, tender green shoots, grass on the rooftops, scorched before it is grown.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as a field of grain before it is grown up.
KJV
Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.
⋯
This verse in Isaiah 37
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Therefore - Not because you have so great power; but because I have rendered them incapable of resisting you. Were of small power - Hebrew, ‘Short of hand;’ they were feeble, imbecile, unable to resist you. They were dismayed - Hebrew, ‘They were broken and ashamed.’ Their spirits sank; they were ashamed of their feeble powers of resistance; and they submitted to the ignominy of a surrender. They were as the grass of the field - The same idea is expressed by Sennacherib himself in Isa 10:15, though under a different image (see the note on that verse).
This site's exposition
Long ago I ordained it
on Isaiah 37:26-27
The LORD answers the boast with an authorship older than any campaign: Long ago I ordained it. Each victory the king counted as his own skill is reassigned: Now I have brought it to pass. Verse 27 describes the conquered peoples themselves as grass on the rooftops.
This site's exposition
grass on the rooftops
Devoid of power is short of hand in Hebrew, and Barnes reads their weakness as the LORD's own doing, ordained at verse 26. Grass on a flat roof sprouts fast in thin soil and withers first, the picture of Psalm 129:6. The nations fell like such grass.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 26 and following) Have you not heard what I did to him in the past? From ancient times I formed it, and now I have brought it forth, and it has become a ruin of the hills that fight against me, and of fortified cities. The inhabitants of those cities were brought low, they trembled and were confused. They became like the grass of the field, and the green herb, and the roof grass that withered before it could mature.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, as to the temporal execution of his eternal intention: and now I have brought it to effect. Hills, princes, fighting together, fighting each other. Short of hand, that is, my hand is drawn back from their aid; or their hand was diminished from their …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Therefore their inhabitants were of small power,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Therefore--not because of thy power, but because I made them unable to withstand thee. grass--which easily withers (Isa 40:6; Ps 37:2). on . . . housetops--which having little earth to nourish it fades soonest (Ps 129:6-8). corn blasted before it be grown up--SMITH translates, "The cornfield (frail and tender), before the corn is grown."
Corn blasted - שדמה shedemah, parched: it does not appear that there is any good authority for this word. The true reading seems to be שדפה shedephah, blasted, as it is in six MSS. (two ancient) here, and in the other copy.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְיֹֽשְׁבֵיהֶן֙ | veyosheveihen | and inhabitants their | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| קִצְרֵי־ | kitzrei- | [were] short of | H7116 → | |
| יָ֔ד | yad | hand | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| חַ֖תּוּ | chatu | they were dismayed | H2865 → | 52 times |
| וָבֹ֑שׁוּ | vavoshu | and they were ashamed | H954 → | 127 times |
| הָי֞וּ | hayu | they were | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| עֵ֤שֶׂב | ʾesev | [the] vegetation of | H6212 → | |
| שָׂדֶה֙ | sadeh | [the] field | H7704 → | 334 times |
| וִ֣ירַק | virak | and [the] greenery of | H3419 → | |
| דֶּ֔שֶׁא | deshe' | vegetation | H1877 → | 14 times |
| חֲצִ֣יר | chatzir | grass of | H2682 → | 21 times |
| גַּגּ֔וֹת | gagot | roofs | H1406 → | 30 times |
| וּשְׁדֵמָ֖ה | ushedemah | and a field | H7709 → | |
| לִפְנֵ֥י | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| קָמָֽה׃ | kamah | standing grain | H7054 → |
וְיֹֽשְׁבֵיהֶן֙and inhabitants their
veyosheveihenH3427 →1079 times
קִצְרֵי־[were] short of
kitzrei-H7116 →
יָ֔דhand
yadH3027 →1618 times
חַ֖תּוּthey were dismayed
chatuH2865 →52 times
וָבֹ֑שׁוּand they were ashamed
vavoshuH954 →127 times
הָי֞וּthey were
hayuH1961 →3559 times
עֵ֤שֶׂב[the] vegetation of
ʾesevH6212 →
שָׂדֶה֙[the] field
sadehH7704 →334 times
וִ֣ירַקand [the] greenery of
virakH3419 →
דֶּ֔שֶׁאvegetation
deshe'H1877 →14 times
חֲצִ֣ירgrass of
chatzirH2682 →21 times
גַּגּ֔וֹתroofs
gagotH1406 →30 times
וּשְׁדֵמָ֖הand a field
ushedemahH7709 →
לִפְנֵ֥י<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
קָמָֽה׃standing grain
kamahH7054 →
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
Psalms 37:2For they wither quickly like grass and wilt like tender plants.
it leads to
- Psalms 92:7
that though the wicked sprout like grass, and all evildoers flourish, they will be forever destroyed.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 90:5–6
You whisk them away in their sleep; they are like the new grass of the morning—
- James 1:10–11
But the one who is rich should exult in his low position, because he will pass away like a flower of the field.
- Psalms 37:35–36
I have seen a wicked, ruthless man flourishing like a well-rooted native tree,
- Job 14:2
Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.
- Psalms 92:7
Through
Psalms 129:6May they be like grass on the rooftops, which withers before it can grow,
it leads to
- Psalms 37:2
For they wither quickly like grass and wilt like tender plants.
- Psalms 37:2
Through
2 Kings 19:26Therefore their inhabitants, devoid of power, are dismayed and ashamed. They are like plants in the field, tender green shoots, grass on the rooftops, scorched before it is grown.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 50:36–37
A sword is against her false prophets, and they will become fools. A sword is against her warriors, and they will be filled with terror.
- Numbers 11:23
The LORD answered Moses, “Is the LORD’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not My word will come to pass.”
- Jeremiah 50:36–37
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
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); 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.