Isaiah 5:28
in Isaiah 5Their arrows are sharpened, and all their bows are strung. The hooves of their horses are like flint; their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent; their horses’ hoofs shall be accounted as flint, and their wheels as a whirlwind:
KJV
Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses’ hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind:
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This verse in Isaiah 5
Commentary
8 notes on this verseHis arrows are sharp, and all his bows are drawn tight. The hooves of his horses are like flint, and his chariot wheels are like a whirlwind. His roar is like that of a lion, he will roar like a lion's cubs. He will growl, and seize his prey, and embrace it, and no one will rescue it. The multitude of archers, the troops of horsemen, the fervor of chariots and quadrigas, is compared to the roar of a lion, which came not so much to fight as to plunder and devour.
This site's exposition
lift up an ensign to the nations
on Isaiah 5:26-30
The chapter's judgment closes by naming its own instrument without naming a nation: an ensign lifted to the nations from far, summoned with a hiss the way a shepherd calls flocks, an army that comes with speed swiftly and does not stumble or slumber or even loosen a shoe-latchet, discipline pictured as an unbroken column. The commentators read the description as fitting the Assyrian war machine specifically, arrows sharp, bows bent, horses' hoofs like flint and wheels like a whirlwind, though the name is withheld until later chapters make it explicit. The chapter that opened with a love song for a vineyard ends with darkness and sorrow over the land, judgment carried out by the very nations Israel was meant to outshine.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
200. Their arrows are sharp. Here he shows that they are armed for fighting. And first, as to the goodness of their arms; and he sets out the arms that are customary in those lands: their arrows are sharp, in which the goodness of their …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Bent - Who are every way furnished and ready for my work, waiting only for my command. Flint - Because they shall not be broken or battered by the length or stonyness and ruggedness of the way.
7 For the vineyard of the L ORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry. See what variety of methods the great God takes to awaken sinners to repentance by convincing them of sin, and showing them their misery and danger by reason of it.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-run:29w-of-66
Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent,.... Ready to shoot their arrows upon any occasion; and which being sharp, penetrated deep, and were deadly.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Their horses’ hoofs shall be counted like flint “The hoofs of their horses shall be counted as adamant” - The shoeing of horses with iron plates nailed to the hoof is quite a modern practice, and was unknown to the ancients, as appears from the silence of the Greek and Roman writers, especially those that treat of horse medicine, who could not have passed over a matter so obvious and of such importance that now the whole science takes its name from it, being called by us farriery.
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
Whose arrows are sharp - Bows and arrows were the common instruments of fighting at a distance. Arrows were, of course, made sharp, and usually pointed with iron, for the purpose of penetrating the shields or coats of mail which were used to guard against them. And all their bows bent - All ready for battle. Their horses’ hoofs shall be counted like flint - It is supposed that the ancients did not usually shoe their horses. Hence, a hard, solid hoof would add greatly to the value of a horse. The prophet here means, that their horses would be prepared for any fatigue, or any expedition; see a full description of horses and chariots in Bochart’s “Hieroz.” P. i. lib. ii. ch. viii. ix. And their wheels like a whirlwind - That is, the wheels of their chariots shall be swift as the wind, and they shall raise a cloud of dust like a whirlwind. This comparison was very common, as it is now; see “Bochart.” See, also, a magnificent description of a war-horse in Job 39:19-25.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֲשֶׁ֤ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| חִצָּיו֙ | chitzav | arrows its | H2671 → | 53 times |
| שְׁנוּנִ֔ים | shenunim | [are] sharpened | H8150 → | |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| קַשְּׁתֹתָ֖יו | kashetotav | bows its | H7198 → | 76 times |
| דְּרֻכ֑וֹת | derukhot | [are] bent | H1869 → | 62 times |
| פַּרְס֤וֹת | parsot | [the] hooves of | H6541 → | |
| סוּסָיו֙ | susav | horses its | H5483 → | 140 times |
| כַּצַּ֣ר | katzar | like <the> flint | H6862 → | 109 times |
| נֶחְשָׁ֔בוּ | nechshavu | they are regarded | H2803 → | 124 times |
| וְגַלְגִּלָּ֖יו | vegalgilav | and wheels its | H1534 → | |
| כַּסּוּפָֽה׃ | kasufah | like <the> storm-wind | H5492 → | 16 times |
אֲשֶׁ֤רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
חִצָּיו֙arrows its
chitzavH2671 →53 times
שְׁנוּנִ֔ים[are] sharpened
shenunimH8150 →
וְכָל־and all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
קַשְּׁתֹתָ֖יוbows its
kashetotavH7198 →76 times
דְּרֻכ֑וֹת[are] bent
derukhotH1869 →62 times
פַּרְס֤וֹת[the] hooves of
parsotH6541 →
סוּסָיו֙horses its
susavH5483 →140 times
כַּצַּ֣רlike <the> flint
katzarH6862 →109 times
נֶחְשָׁ֔בוּthey are regarded
nechshavuH2803 →124 times
וְגַלְגִּלָּ֖יוand wheels its
vegalgilavH1534 →
כַּסּוּפָֽה׃like <the> storm-wind
kasufahH5492 →16 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
Psalms 45:5Your arrows pierce the hearts of the king’s foes; the nations fall beneath your feet.
it leads to
- Psalms 21:12
For You will put them to flight when Your bow is trained upon them.
- Numbers 24:8
God brought him out of Egypt with strength like a wild ox, to devour hostile nations and crush their bones, to pierce them with arrows.
- Psalms 38:2
For Your arrows have pierced me deeply, and Your hand has pressed down on me.
- Psalms 21:12
Through
Psalms 120:4Sharp arrows will come from the warrior, with burning coals of the broom tree!
it leads to
- James 3:5–8
In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it boasts of great things. Consider how small a spark sets a great forest ablaze.
- James 3:5–8
Through
Micah 4:13Rise and thresh, O Daughter of Zion, for I will give you horns of iron and hooves of bronze to break to pieces many peoples. Then you will devote their gain to the LORD,…
it leads to
- Isaiah 41:15–16
Behold, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff.
- Daniel 2:44
In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will shatter all these kingdoms…
- Isaiah 18:7
At that time gifts will be brought to the LORD of Hosts—from a people tall and smooth-skinned, from a people widely feared, from a powerful nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by…
- Isaiah 23:18
Yet her profits and wages will be set apart to the LORD; they will not be stored or saved, for her profit will go to those who live before the LORD, for abundant food…
- Isaiah 41:15–16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of the Prophet 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.