Isaiah 66:16
in Isaiah 66For by fire and by His sword, the LORD will execute judgment on all flesh, and many will be slain by the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For by fire will Jehovah execute judgment, and by his sword, upon all flesh; and the slain of Jehovah shall be many.
KJV
For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many.
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This verse in Isaiah 66
Commentary
9 notes on this verse"For he will come like fire." … For he will descend from heaven in the glory of God the Father and with the angels. This is his chariot, as it is praised in the Psalms: "The chariot of the Lord is ten thousand in dimensions with thousands of those rejoicing." For he will come to give judgment in anger and to cast them off with a flame of fire. For "casting off" means rejection, just as he says to those who are dead in their sins, "Depart from me, you evildoers."
This site's exposition
For behold, the LORD will come with fire
on Isaiah 66:15-17
“For behold, the LORD will come with fire” sets fire against the nursing pictures of verses 11 to 13. Those judged are named by their rites: they eat “swine and vermin and rats”, animals the law forbids at Leviticus 11:7 and 11:29.
This site's exposition
For by fire and by His sword
Barnes gives the verb as judge, the sense the Berean prints, and limits all flesh to the foes of God. Jamieson, Fausset & Brown add that the godly are hidden away from the judgment, as in 26:20. Wesley says God pleads first by words and then by fire.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 15, 16.) For behold, the Lord will come in fire: and like a whirlwind, his chariots, to render his anger with indignation, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire will the Lord judge, and by his sword, all flesh: and the slain by the Lord shall be multiplied. Septuagint: Behold, the Lord will come like fire, and his chariots like a storm, to render his vengeance in fury: and his rebuke in flames of fire.
The Medieval Church1 voice
They shall fall by the sword of God (Amos 9:10). And he sets out the multitude of those who are punished: the slain of the Lord shall be many, above: for there is a victim of the Lord in Bosra and a great slaughter in …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Plead - God at first pleads with sinners by words, but if he cannot so prevail, he will plead with them in a way by which he will overcome; by fire, pestilence and blood.
For by fire, and by his sword, will the Lord plead with all flesh,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
For by fire and by his sword - The sword is an instrument by which punishment is executed (see the notes at Isa 34:5; compare Rom 13:4). Will he plead with all flesh - Or rather, he will judge (נשׁפט nı̂shephaṭ), that is, he will execute his purposes of vengeance on all the human race. Of course, only that part is intended who ought to be subject to punishment; that is, all his foes.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Rather, "With fire will Jehovah judge, and with His sword (He will judge) all flesh." The parallelism and collocation of the Hebrew words favor this (Isa 65:12). all flesh--that is, all who are the objects of His wrath. The godly shall be hidden by the Lord in a place of safety away from the scene of judgment (Isa 26:20, 21;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֤י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| בָאֵשׁ֙ | vaesh | by <the> fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| נִשְׁפָּ֔ט | nishpat | [will] enter into judgment | H8199 → | 202 times |
| וּבְחַרְבּ֖וֹ | uvecharbo | and by sword his | H2719 → | 413 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | with | H854 → | 929 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| בָּשָׂ֑ר | basar | flesh | H1320 → | 270 times |
| וְרַבּ֖וּ | verabu | and they will be many | H7231 → | 21 times |
| חַֽלְלֵ֥י | chalei | [those] slain of | H2491 → | 94 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
כִּ֤יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
בָאֵשׁ֙by <the> fire
vaeshH784 →378 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
נִשְׁפָּ֔ט[will] enter into judgment
nishpatH8199 →202 times
וּבְחַרְבּ֖וֹand by sword his
uvecharboH2719 →413 times
אֶת־with
ʾet-H854 →929 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
בָּשָׂ֑רflesh
basarH1320 →270 times
וְרַבּ֖וּand they will be many
verabuH7231 →21 times
חַֽלְלֵ֥י[those] slain of
chaleiH2491 →94 times
יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 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 27:1In that day the LORD will take His sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan the fleeing serpent—Leviathan the coiling serpent—and He will slay the dragon of the sea.
it leads to
- 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 51:9
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD. Wake up as in days past, as in generations of old. Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the…
- Revelation 12:3
Then another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon with seven heads, ten horns, and seven royal crowns on his heads.
- Psalms 104:26
There the ships pass, and Leviathan, which You formed to frolic there.
- Revelation 20:2
He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.
- Ezekiel 29:3
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
- Psalms 18:13–14
The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded— hailstones and coals of fire.
- 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.
- Joshua 10:11
As they fled before Israel along the descent from Beth-horon to Azekah, the LORD cast down on them large hailstones from the sky, and more of them were killed by the hailstones than by…
- Psalms 18:13–14
Where this verse is studied
By subject
Judgment35 verses
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); Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 5:6.66:15-17; 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 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.