Isaiah 9:11
in Isaiah 9The LORD has raised up the foes of Rezin against him and joined his enemies together.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore Jehovah will set up on high against him the adversaries of Rezin, and will stir up his enemies,
KJV
Therefore the Lord shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together;
⋯
This verse in Isaiah 9
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Therefore - This verse indicates the punishment that would come upon them for their pride. The Lord shall set up - Hebrew, ‘Shall exalt.’ That is, they shall overcome and subdue him. The adversaries of Rezin - King of Syria, Isa 7:1. It should be observed here, that twenty-one manuscripts, instead of adversaries, read princes of Rezin. The sense seems to require this; as in the following verse, it is said that the Syrians will be excited against them. Against him - Against Ephraim.
This site's exposition
adversaries of Rezin
on Isaiah 9:11-12
Against Ephraim's boast the Lord sets up the adversaries of Rezin, joining Syria and the Philistines, once separate threats, into a single instrument against the same pride that had just refused correction. Verse 12 closes the unit with the refrain that structures the rest of the chapter and runs into chapter 10, for all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still, a line repeated four times as a drumbeat marking that no single judgment has yet exhausted the warning. The commentators read the refrain as deliberately unresolved, each stanza ending not with relief but with the same threat still standing.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Chapter IX - (Verses 8 onwards) The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel. And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart, The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars. Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together; The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth.
The Medieval Church1 voice
313. And the Lord shall set up. Here he describes the diversity of punishments as to three things which they trusted in. First, he threatens against the alliance of neighbors; second, against the use of persons whom they suppose that they have: and the Lord …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Therefore - To chastise your pride, and defeat your hopes. Set up - The Assyrians, who, presently after this prophecy, prevailed against him, 2 Kings xvi, 7. He mentions Rezin, because he was confederate with Ephraim.
Therefore the Lord shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him,....
Note, When enemies are set up, and joined in confederacy against a people, God's hand must be acknowledged in it. Note further, Those that partake with each other in sin, as Syria and Israel in invading Judah, must expect to share in the punishment of sin.
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
adversaries of Rezin--the Assyrians, who shall first attack Damascus, shall next advance "against him" (Ephraim). This is the punishment of Ephraim's pride in making light (Isa 9:10) of the judgment already inflicted by God through Tiglath-pileser (2Ki 15:29).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The adversaries of Rezin against him “The princes of Retsin against him” - For צרי tsarey, enemies, Houbigant, by conjecture, reads שרי sarey, princes; which is confirmed by thirty of Kennicott’s and De Rossi’s MSS., (two ancient), one of my own, ancient; and nine more have צ tsaddi, upon a rasure, and therefore had probably at first שרי sarey. The princes of Retsin, the late ally of Israel, that is, the Syrians, expressly named in the next verse, shall now be excited against Israel. The Septuagint in this place give us another variation; for רצין Retsin, they read הר ציון har tsiyon, ορος Σιων, Mount Sion, of which this may be the sense; but Jehovah shall set up the adversaries of Mount Sion against him, (i.e., against Israel), and will strengthen his enemies together; the Syrians, the Philistines, who are called the adversaries of Mount Sion. See Simonis Lex. in voce סכך sachach.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Aram from the east Aram harmed them from the east in the days of Jehoahaz and Joash, and the Philistines harmed them from the west, for the Philistines are west of them.
3 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
And the Lord strengthened the adversaries of Rezin over him They trust in their dependence on Rezin, king of Aram, and the Holy One, blessed be He, shall strengthen the king of Assyria over him and stir him up to incite him to come upon him.
to the One Who smites it To the Holy One, blessed be He, Who brings these afflictions upon them.
Therefore the Lord shall make strong the hatred of Rezin against him, and he will stir up his adversaries.
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. 1 further source is cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְשַׂגֵּ֧ב | vaysagev | and he set on high | H7682 → | 20 times |
| יְהוָ֛ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| צָרֵ֥י | tzarei | [the] opponents of | H6862 → | 109 times |
| רְצִ֖ין | retzin | Rezin | H7526 → | 11 times |
| עָלָ֑יו | ʾalav | against him | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֹיְבָ֖יו | ʾoyevav | enemies his | H341 → | 282 times |
| יְסַכְסֵֽךְ׃ | yesakhsekh | he provoked | H5526 → |
וַיְשַׂגֵּ֧בand he set on high
vaysagevH7682 →20 times
יְהוָ֛הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
צָרֵ֥י[the] opponents of
tzareiH6862 →109 times
רְצִ֖יןRezin
retzinH7526 →11 times
עָלָ֑יוagainst him
ʾalavH5921 →5755 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
אֹיְבָ֖יוenemies his
ʾoyevavH341 →282 times
יְסַכְסֵֽךְ׃he provoked
yesakhsekhH5526 →
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
2 Kings 15:29In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and he took the people…
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 5:26
So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria (that is, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria) to take the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh into exile. And…
- 2 Kings 17:6
In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the…
- Joshua 20:7
So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.
- 2 Kings 16:7
So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and save me from the hands of the kings of Aram and Israel, who are…
- 1 Kings 15:20
And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, conquering Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and the whole land of Naphtali, including the region of Chinnereth.
- 1 Chronicles 5:26
Through
2 Kings 16:9So the king of Assyria responded to him, marched up to Damascus, and captured it. He took its people to Kir as captives and put Rezin to death.
it leads to
- Isaiah 22:6
Elam takes up a quiver, with chariots and horsemen, and Kir uncovers the shield.
- Amos 9:7
“Are you not like the Cushites to Me, O children of Israel?” declares the LORD. “Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Arameans from…
- Amos 1:3–5
This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Damascus, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they threshed Gilead with sledges of iron.
- Isaiah 22:6
Where this verse is studied
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; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on 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.