Isaiah 17:14
in Isaiah 17In the evening, there is sudden terror! Before morning, they are no more! This is the portion of those who loot us and the lot of those who plunder us.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
At eventide, behold, terror; and before the morning they are not. This is the portion of them that despoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.
KJV
And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.
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This verse in Isaiah 17
Commentary
11 notes on this verse(Verse 14) He will come in the morning, and he will see his army destroyed, the power of his might gone. And this will be the portion of those who devastated us. The Prophet speaks either on behalf of the people or joins himself to his own nation (IV Kings XIX, 35, 36). Afterwards we read: The Angel of the Lord went out and struck down in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and they arose early in the morning, and behold, all the dead bodies.
This site's exposition
Alas, the tumult of many peoples
on Isaiah 17:12-14
The oracle widens from Damascus and Ephraim to every nation. He rebukes them and they flee, with sudden terror in the evening and by morning they are no more. Henry and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown set beside it Sennacherib's later siege, an army gone between nightfall and dawn.
This site's exposition
In the evening, there is sudden terror!
The prophet speaks as one of the plundered, and Jerome notes that he joins himself to his own nation. Portion and lot are the words for an inheritance, and the plunderers inherit ruin. Psalm 30:5 makes the same turn from night to morning.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 14) And when the day of consummation comes, which is interpreted as evening, then there will be turmoil, acknowledging his sins. And in the morning, on the day of resurrection, it will not continue, as the LXX translated, it will not be. But if it will not be, what will those who give penance to the devil respond, and they promise as much as they can, an archangelic rank? This is the role of those who have devastated us, and the fate of those who will plunder us. This is either the speech of the Christian people or the prophet speaking from the perspective of the believing people, that the persecutors will have eternal destruction, who have oppressed the holy ones of God with exile, imprisonment, and the seizure of goods, and will possess eternal punishments.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Third, the completion of the destruction is set out: and he shall not be, for he himself was killed: you are brought to nothing (Ezek 28:19). Fourth, the reason for the destruction is set out: this is the portion of them that have wasted us, …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
3 The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the L ORD of hosts. 4 And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:97%@v3-4
): At evening-tide they are very troublesome, and threaten trouble to the people of God; but before the morning they are not. At sleeping time they are cast into a deep sleep, Ps. xxvi.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And behold at eveningtide trouble,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
He is not “He is no more” - For איננו einennu ten MSS. of Dr. Kennicott’s, (three ancient), ten of De Rossi’s, and two editions, and the Septuagint, Syriac, Chaldee, Vulgate, and Arabic, have ואיננו veeinenno. This particle, authenticated by so many good vouchers, restores the sentence to its true poetical form, implying a repetition of some part of the parallel line preceding, thus: - “At the season of evening, behold terror!
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
eventide . . . before morning--fulfilled to the letter in the destruction "before morning" of the vast host that "at eveningtide" was such a terror ("trouble") to Judah; on the phrase see Ps 90:6; 30:5. he is not--namely, the enemy. us--the Jews.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
At evening-tide trouble - In the time of evening - that is, in the night. Before the morning he is not - That is, he is destroyed. This is strikingly descriptive of the destruction of the army of Sennacherib on that fatal night when the angel of the Lord killed 185,000 men (see the note at Isa 37:36). This is the portion of them that spoil us - Of those who would plunder us. This is a “general” declaration in regard to the enemies of the Jewish people. This is the lot, the end, the destiny of all who attempt to destroy them. That is, the people of God shall be safe whoever rises up against them; and whatever may be the number, or the power of their foes, they shall be overthrown.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
and behold there is fright Demons come upon the enemy and frighten him.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
and He shall rebuke them [lit.] him i.e., the Holy One, blessed be He, [shall rebuke] that rushing [or throng].
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. 2 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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לְעֵ֥ת | leet | to a time of | H6256 → | 296 times |
| עֶ֙רֶב֙ | ʾerev | evening | H6153 → | |
| וְהִנֵּ֣ה | vehineh | and there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| בַלָּהָ֔ה | valahah | sudden terror | H1091 → | |
| בְּטֶ֥רֶם | beterem | <in> before | H2962 → | 56 times |
| בֹּ֖קֶר | boker | morning | H1242 → | 214 times |
| אֵינֶ֑נּוּ | ʾeinenu | there not [is] it | H369 → | 789 times |
| זֶ֚ה | zeh | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| חֵ֣לֶק | chelek | [will be] [the] portion of | H2506 → | 67 times |
| שׁוֹסֵ֔ינוּ | shoseinu | [those who] plunder us | H8154 → | 11 times |
| וְגוֹרָ֖ל | vegoral | and [the] lot | H1486 → | 78 times |
| לְבֹזְזֵֽינוּ׃ ס | levozezeinu | of [those who] despoil us | H962 → | 43 times |
לְעֵ֥תto a time of
leetH6256 →296 times
עֶ֙רֶב֙evening
ʾerevH6153 →
וְהִנֵּ֣הand there!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
בַלָּהָ֔הsudden terror
valahahH1091 →
בְּטֶ֥רֶם<in> before
beteremH2962 →56 times
בֹּ֖קֶרmorning
bokerH1242 →214 times
אֵינֶ֑נּוּthere not [is] it
ʾeinenuH369 →789 times
זֶ֚הthis
zehH2088 →1180 times
חֵ֣לֶק[will be] [the] portion of
chelekH2506 →67 times
שׁוֹסֵ֔ינוּ[those who] plunder us
shoseinuH8154 →11 times
וְגוֹרָ֖לand [the] lot
vegoralH1486 →78 times
לְבֹזְזֵֽינוּ׃ סof [those who] despoil us
levozezeinuH962 →43 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
2 Kings 19:35And that very night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the…
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 32:21–22
and the LORD sent an angel who annihilated every mighty man of valor and every leader and commander in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he withdrew to his own land in…
- 2 Samuel 24:16
But when the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that…
- 2 Chronicles 32:21–22
Through
Proverbs 22:23for the LORD will take up their case and will plunder those who rob them.
it leads to
- Psalms 12:5
“For the cause of the oppressed and for the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will bring safety to him who yearns.”
- Psalms 140:12
I know that the LORD upholds justice for the poor and defends the cause of the needy.
- Proverbs 23:11
for their Redeemer is strong; He will take up their case against you.
- Jeremiah 51:36
Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Behold, I will plead your case and take vengeance on your behalf; I will dry up her sea and make her springs run dry.
- 1 Samuel 25:39
On hearing that Nabal was dead, David said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has upheld my cause against the reproach of Nabal and has restrained His servant from evil. For the LORD has brought…
- Psalms 12:5
Through
Jeremiah 2:3Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of His harvest. All who devoured her found themselves guilty; disaster came upon them,’” declares the LORD.
it leads to
- James 1:18
He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of His creation.
- James 1:18
About Isaiah
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; Jamieson, Fausset and 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.