Isaiah 57:13
in Isaiah 57When you cry out, let your companies of idols deliver you! Yet the wind will carry off all of them, a breath will take them away. But he who seeks refuge in Me will inherit the land and possess My holy mountain.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
When thou criest, let them that thou hast gathered deliver thee; but the wind shall take them, a breath shall carry them all away: but he that taketh refuge in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain.
KJV
When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain;
⋯
This verse in Isaiah 57
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
When thou criest - That is, when you are in trouble, and feel your need of help. Let thy companies deliver thee - The word used here (קבוּץ qibûts) means, properly, “a gathering; a throng; a collection.” Here it refers either to the throngs of the idols which they had collected. and on which they relied; or to the collection of foreigners which they had summoned to their assistance.
This site's exposition
Whom have you dreaded and feared
on Isaiah 57:11-13
“Whom have you dreaded and feared, so that you lied and failed to remember Me” names the root, a fear of others. Verse 13 sets the idols against a promise: “he who seeks refuge in Me will inherit the land and possess My holy mountain”.
This site's exposition
let your companies of idols deliver you
Barnes gives the Hebrew for companies as a gathered throng, either the collected idols or the foreign allies Judah summoned. Jamieson, Fausset & Brown read the land to possess and the holy mountain as Judea and Zion. Matthew Henry reads the wind as the breath of God's wrath.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
This, as I have said, is obscure: "shall possess the land and inhabit my holy mountain." After all, if we take it literally and materialistically, we won't be cleansing ourselves from every defilement of flesh and spirit; and God will have procured for us to no purpose the conjunction of the end of the reading from the prophet with the beginning of the reading from the apostle, if to possess some earthly mountain we start getting ourselves ready for avarice, not for godliness. Well, but what should we understand by the mountain? It is obscure what [Isaiah] meant by "mountain."Yes, but if God had really let us down, he would nowhere say what mountain means. Where he does tell us openly, that is where you must love the mountain. Where he openly recommends a mountain to you, and Scripture opens itself up to say what mountain means, that is where you must love it. Yes, wherever you hear such a mountain promised you, set your sights on it.… What sort of mountain really has been promised us?… The church itself is the mountain … we are going to rise again, and we shall be the holy mountain of God. On this mountain dwells whoever has given himself to God. "But those who have given themselves to me shall possess the land and inhabit my holy mountain."
(Verse 13, 14.) And the wind will carry them away: the breeze will lift them. But those who have confidence in me will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain. And I will say, Make a way, offer a path, turn aside from the path, remove stumbling blocks from my people's way. LXX: For the wind will carry away all of them, and the tempest will take them away.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Your companies, gathered from various nations: let them arise and help you, and protect you in your distress (Deut 32:38). But he that puts his trust in me. Here he confirms the difference between the just and the unjust. And first, as to the just; …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
But in vain is salvation hoped for from them: The wind shall carry them all away, the wind of God's wrath, that breath of his mouth which shall slay the wicked; they have made themselves as chaff, and therefore the wind will of course hurry them away. Vanity they are, and vanity shall take them away, to vanity they shall be reduced, and vanity shall be their recompence.
When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Mt 7:27). vanity--rather, "a breath" [LOWTH]. possess . . . land . . . inherit--that is, the literal land of Judea and Mount Zion; the believing remnant of Israel shall return and inherit the land.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Let thy companies deliver thee “Let thine associates deliver thee” - Thirty-nine MSS. (ten ancient) of Dr. Kennicott’s, and two of my own, and the two oldest editions have יצילכו yatstsiluchu, plural.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
When you cry out, let your collections save you Let the collection of your idols and your graven images [and those who deny the Torah] that you collected, rise and save you when you cry out from your distress.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
I tell your righteousness Constantly, I tell you things to do, so that you will be righteous.
And he shall say, “Pave, pave” So will the prophet say in My name to My people, “Pave, pave a paved highway, clear away the evil inclination from your ways.”
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּזַֽעֲקֵךְ֙ | bezaakekh | when cry out you | H2199 → | 73 times |
| יַצִּילֻ֣ךְ | yatzilukh | let them deliver you | H5337 → | 212 times |
| קִבּוּצַ֔יִךְ | kibutzayikh | collection<s> your | H6899 → | |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כֻּלָּ֥ם | kulam | all of them | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| יִשָּׂא־ | yisa'- | it will carry away | H5375 → | 656 times |
| ר֖וּחַ | ruach | a wind | H7307 → | 378 times |
| יִקַּח־ | yikach- | it will take [them] away | H3947 → | 966 times |
| הָ֑בֶל | havel | a breath | H1892 → | 73 times |
| וְהַחוֹסֶ֥ה | vehachoseh | and the [one who] takes refuge | H2620 → | 37 times |
| בִי֙ | vi | in me | ||
| יִנְחַל־ | yinchal- | he will inherit | H5157 → | 59 times |
| אֶ֔רֶץ | ʾeretz | [the] land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וְיִירַ֖שׁ | veyirash | so he may possess | H3423 → | 231 times |
| הַר־ | har- | [the] mountain of | H2022 → | 546 times |
| קָדְשִֽׁי׃ | kodshi | holiness my | H6944 → | 469 times |
בְּזַֽעֲקֵךְ֙when cry out you
bezaakekhH2199 →73 times
יַצִּילֻ֣ךְlet them deliver you
yatzilukhH5337 →212 times
קִבּוּצַ֔יִךְcollection<s> your
kibutzayikhH6899 →
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
כֻּלָּ֥םall of them
kulamH3605 →5413 times
יִשָּׂא־it will carry away
yisa'-H5375 →656 times
ר֖וּחַa wind
ruachH7307 →378 times
יִקַּח־it will take [them] away
yikach-H3947 →966 times
הָ֑בֶלa breath
havelH1892 →73 times
וְהַחוֹסֶ֥הand the [one who] takes refuge
vehachosehH2620 →37 times
בִי֙in me
vi
יִנְחַל־he will inherit
yinchal-H5157 →59 times
אֶ֔רֶץ[the] land
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
וְיִירַ֖שׁso he may possess
veyirashH3423 →231 times
הַר־[the] mountain of
har-H2022 →546 times
קָדְשִֽׁי׃holiness my
kodshiH6944 →469 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 37:3Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 17:7–8
But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him.
- Matthew 6:31–33
Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
- Psalms 62:8
Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts before Him. God is our refuge. Selah
- 1 Corinthians 15:57–58
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
- Psalms 34:9–10
Fear the LORD, you His saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing.
- Jeremiah 17:7–8
Through
Isaiah 56:7I will bring them to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar, for My house will be called…
it leads to
- Mark 11:17
Then Jesus began to teach them, and He declared, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of…
- Isaiah 2:2–3
In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to…
- Mark 11:17
Through
Isaiah 11:9They will neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the sea is full of water.
it leads to
- Habakkuk 2:14
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
- Habakkuk 2:14
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, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 45:3-5; 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.