Isaiah 13:5
in Isaiah 13They are coming from faraway lands, from the ends of the heavens—the LORD and the weapons of His wrath—to destroy the whole country.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They come from a far country, from the uttermost part of heaven, even Jehovah, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.
KJV
They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.
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This verse in Isaiah 13
Commentary
13 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
They--namely, "Jehovah," and the armies which are "the weapons of His indignation." far country--Media and Persia, stretching to the far north and east. end of heaven--the far east (Ps 19:6). destroy--rather, "to seize" [HORSLEY].
This site's exposition
Listen, a tumult on the mountains
on Isaiah 13:4-8
The tumult on the mountains gathers many nations under one command, the LORD of Hosts mobilizing an army. The prophet cries that "the Day of the LORD is near," coming as destruction from the Almighty. Writhing "like a woman in labor" is one of the oldest figures for sudden dread.
This site's exposition
the weapons of His wrath
Clarke cited Kimchi, who took the far end as Media. Barnes saw the LORD Himself at the head of the gathered armies. Matthew Henry called great princes and armies tools in God's hand, as Assyria was the rod of 10:5.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
(Verse 4, 5.) The voice of the multitude on the mountains, like the voice of many people: the sound of the gathered kings of nations. The Lord of hosts has commanded the forces of war to come from afar, from the top of the heavens. The Lord and His vessels of fury, to destroy all the earth.
(Vers. 5, 6.) How has the tax collector ceased, the tribute rested? The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked: the rod of the rulers, smiting the people in wrath, with an incurable plague, subjecting the nations in fury, persecuting cruelly. In the Epistle of Peter we read: The time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God (1 Peter 4:17). And in Ezekiel it is said to the tormentors: Begin with my sanctuary (Ezekiel 9:6). For the diversity of sin, the order of judgment is established: so that those who have sinned less, may be purified first. But the final enemy to be destroyed is death. Therefore, when Israel has been liberated from harsh bondage, he will take up a parable against the king of Babylon, which we must understand as a parable. For if the speech is about Nebuchadnezzar and a simple explanation of history, how can it be called a parable, which is not compared to any other thing? So Israel wonders how the tax collector, who used to collect all the way to the last penny, has ceased. However, he is accustomed to pursue only debtors, who say in the Lord's Prayer: Forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors (Matth. VI, 12). These debtors are handed over to the collector by the judge, who sends them to prison and exacts from them up to the smallest sin. Moreover, the Apostle Paul also handed over to the collector the fornicator in Corinth, who had married his father's wife, as well as Phygellus and Hermogenes (I Cor. V; II Tim. I). And concerning these tax collectors, it is also said: My people, your tax collectors plunder you; and those who demand payment, they are your rulers. The eagle has interpreted hunger as tribute. For when our betrothed is taken away from us, we suffer hunger for the word of God, and continually fast from the body of the Lord. […]
(Verse 5) The voice of the multitude on the mountains is like the voice of populous nations, the sound of gathered kings of nations. This place is understood in three ways. First, that with a raised sign on a rural mountain, a multitude of nations may come, and they themselves, being situated on the mountains, are divided into two, namely, peoples and kings, disciples and teachers, of whom the Savior spoke in the Gospel: Many will come from the east and west and recline at table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 8:11).
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, divine help to fulfill the command: from the end of heaven, as though to help; and the instruments of his wrath, that is, all kinds of arms.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
); for, though the nobles were the leaders in persecuting and oppressing God's people, yet the whole land concurred with them in it. The persons brought together to lay Babylon waste are here called, 1.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Thy come - From the ends of the earth under heaven, which is not to be understood strictly. The weapons - The Medes and Persians, who were but a rod in God's hand, and the instruments of his anger.
They come from a far country, from the end of heaven,....
Note, Great princes and armies are but tools in God's hand, weapons that he is pleased to make use of in doing his work, and it is his wrath that arms them and gives them success.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
They come from a far country - The word מארץ meerets is wanting in one MS. and in the Syriac: “They come from afar.” From the end of heaven - Kimchi says, Media, “the end of heaven,” in Scripture phrase, means, the East.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
They come - That is, ‘Yahweh and the weapons of his indignation’ - the collected armies come. The prophet sees these assembled armies with Yahweh, as their leader, at their head. From a far country - The country of the Medes and Persians. These nations, indeed, bordered on Babylonia, but still they stretched far to the north and east, and, probably, occupied nearly all the regions to the east of Babylon which were then known.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בָּאִ֛ים | baim | [they are] coming | H935 → | 2568 times |
| מֵאֶ֥רֶץ | meeretz | from a land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| מֶרְחָ֖ק | merchak | distance | H4801 → | 18 times |
| מִקְצֵ֣ה | miktzeh | from [the] end of | H7097 → | 97 times |
| הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם | hashamayim | the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וּכְלֵ֣י | ukhelei | and [the] weapons of | H3627 → | 325 times |
| זַעְמ֔וֹ | za'mo | indignation his | H2195 → | 22 times |
| לְחַבֵּ֖ל | lechabel | to destroy | H2254 → | 27 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָאָֽרֶץ׃ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
בָּאִ֛ים[they are] coming
baimH935 →2568 times
מֵאֶ֥רֶץfrom a land of
meeretzH776 →2504 times
מֶרְחָ֖קdistance
merchakH4801 →18 times
מִקְצֵ֣הfrom [the] end of
miktzehH7097 →97 times
הַשָּׁמָ֑יִםthe heavens
hashamayimH8064 →421 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וּכְלֵ֣יand [the] weapons of
ukheleiH3627 →325 times
זַעְמ֔וֹindignation his
za'moH2195 →22 times
לְחַבֵּ֖לto destroy
lechabelH2254 →27 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הָאָֽרֶץ׃the land
haaretzH776 →2504 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
Matthew 24:31And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
it leads to
- Isaiah 11:12
He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; He will collect the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:16
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to…
- Mark 13:27
And He will send out the angels to gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
- Isaiah 27:13
And in that day a great ram’s horn will sound, and those who were perishing in Assyria will come forth with those who were exiles in Egypt. And they will worship the LORD on…
- 1 Corinthians 15:52
in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
- Isaiah 11:12
Through
Isaiah 5:26He lifts a banner for the distant nations and whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Behold—how speedily and swiftly they come!
it leads to
- Zechariah 10:8
I will whistle for them to gather, for I have redeemed them; and they will be as numerous as they once were.
- Deuteronomy 28:49
The LORD will bring a nation from afar, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down upon you like an eagle—a nation whose language you will not understand,
- Isaiah 7:18
On that day the LORD will whistle to the flies at the farthest streams of the Nile and to the bees in the land of Assyria.
- Zechariah 10:8
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); 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; Joseph Addison Alexander, Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.