Isaiah 9:5
in Isaiah 9For every trampling boot of battle and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For all the armor of the armed man in the tumult, and the garments rolled in blood, shall be for burning, for fuel of fire.
KJV
For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.
⋯
This verse in Isaiah 9
Commentary
9 notes on this verseFor every violent plunder with tumult: and the garment mingled with blood shall be for burning, and food for the fire. LXX: For every garment rolled in blood is for burning, fuel for the fire.
This site's exposition
multiplied the nation
on Isaiah 9:3-5
Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy reads oddly against the harvest gladness the rest of the verse describes, and the older commentators trace the tension to a Hebrew consonant ambiguity between the word for not and the word for to him, so an alternate reading gives thou hast increased the joy done to him rather than a flat denial. Either reading lands on the same picture, joy like harvest gladness and like men dividing spoil after victory, and the yoke, staff and rod of the oppressor broken as in the day of Midian, recalling Gideon's rout of an overwhelming army by the Lord's power rather than by numbers. Verse 5 contrasts every battle of the past, fought with confused noise and garments rolled in blood, against a deliverance to come that will be settled with burning and fuel of fire instead of ordinary combat.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Fourth, as to the punishment of the enemy: and these things happen, for every violent taking of spoils, with tumult, that is, violent despoilers, as to the damage which they inflict on goods, and garment mingled with blood, of those whom they killed, as to …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Noise - With the triumphant exclamations of the conqueror, and the bitter Lamentations of the conquered, and the different cries of the same persons, sometimes conquering, and sometimes conquered. Blood - With great difficulty and slaughter.
For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise,....
(1.) The design of the gospel, and the grace of it, is to break the yoke of sin and Satan, to remove the burden of guilt and corruption, and to free us from the rod of those oppressors, that we might be brought into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
For every battle of the warrior - The expression used here has caused great difficulty, from the fact that it occurs nowhere else in the Scriptures. The word סאון se'ôn, rendered here battle, is supposed to mean rather greaves, or the armor of the warrior which covered the feet and the legs. It would be literally translated, ‘Every greave of those armed with greaves.’ - Gesenius.
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
every battle, &c.--rather, "every greave of (the warrior who is) armed with greaves in the din of battle, and the martial garment (or cloak, called by the Latins sagum) rolled in blood, shall be for burning, (and) fuel for fire" [MAURER].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Every battle of the warrior “The greaves of the armed warrior” - שאון שאון seon soen. This word, occurring only in this place, is oaf very doubtful signification. Schindler fairly tells us that we may guess at it by the context. The Jews have explained it, by guess I believe, as signifying battle, conflict: the Vulgate renders it violenta praedatio. But it seems as if something was rather meant which was capable of becoming fuel for the fire, together with the garments mentioned in the same sentence. In Syriac the word, as a noun, signifies a shoe, or a sandal, as a learned friend suggested to me some years ago. See Luk 15:22; Act 12:8. I take it, therefore, to mean that part of the armor which covered the legs and feet, and I would render the two words in Latin by caliga caligati. The burning of heaps of armor, gathered from the field of battle, as an offering made to the god supposed to be the giver of victory, was a custom that prevailed among some heathen nations; and the Romans used it as an emblem of peace, which perfectly well suits with the design of the prophet in this place. A medal struck by Vespasian on finishing his wars both at home and abroad represents the goddess Peace holding an olive branch in one hand, and, with a lighted torch in the other, setting fire to a heap of armor. Virgil mentions the custom: - “ - Cum primam aciem Praeneste sub ipsa Stravi, scutorumque incendi victor acervos.” Aen. lib. viii., ver. 561. “Would heaven, (said he), my strength and youth recall, Such as I was beneath Praeneste’s wall - Then when I made the foremost foes retire And set whole heaps of conquered shields on fire.” Dryden. See Addison on Medals, Series 2:18. And there are notices of some such practice among the Israelites, and other nations of the most early times. God promises to Joshua victory over the kings of Canaan. […]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֤י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כָל־ | khol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| סְאוֹן֙ | seon | boot | H5430 → | |
| סֹאֵ֣ן | soen | [which] marches | H5431 → | |
| בְּרַ֔עַשׁ | beraash | with shaking | H7494 → | |
| וְשִׂמְלָ֖ה | vesimlah | and cloak | H8071 → | 29 times |
| מְגוֹלָלָ֣ה | megolalah | rolled | H1556 → | |
| בְדָמִ֑ים | vedamim | in blood<s> | H1818 → | 360 times |
| וְהָיְתָ֥ה | vehayetah | and it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לִשְׂרֵפָ֖ה | lisrefah | for burning | H8316 → | |
| מַאֲכֹ֥לֶת | maakholet | fuel of | H3980 → | |
| אֵֽשׁ׃ | ʾesh | a fire | H784 → | 378 times |
כִּ֤יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
כָל־every
khol-H3605 →5413 times
סְאוֹן֙boot
seonH5430 →
סֹאֵ֣ן[which] marches
soenH5431 →
בְּרַ֔עַשׁwith shaking
beraashH7494 →
וְשִׂמְלָ֖הand cloak
vesimlahH8071 →29 times
מְגוֹלָלָ֣הrolled
megolalahH1556 →
בְדָמִ֑יםin blood<s>
vedamimH1818 →360 times
וְהָיְתָ֥הand it will be
vehayetahH1961 →3559 times
לִשְׂרֵפָ֖הfor burning
lisrefahH8316 →
מַאֲכֹ֥לֶתfuel of
maakholetH3980 →
אֵֽשׁ׃a fire
ʾeshH784 →378 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 46:9He makes wars to cease throughout the earth; He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; He burns the shields in the fire.
it leads to
- Isaiah 2:4
Then He will judge between the nations and arbitrate for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer take up the sword against…
- Micah 4:3–4
Then He will judge between many peoples and arbitrate for strong nations far and wide. Then they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer take…
- Micah 5:10
“In that day,” declares the LORD, “I will remove your horses from among you and wreck your chariots.
- Joshua 11:9
Joshua treated them as the LORD had told him; he hamstrung their horses and burned up their chariots.
- Isaiah 60:18
No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders. But you will name your walls Salvation and your gates Praise.
- Isaiah 2:4
Through
2 Thessalonians 1:8in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 4:17
For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God?
- 2 Peter 3:7
And by that same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
- Hebrews 10:27
but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries.
- 1 Peter 4:17
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.