Isaiah 18:6
in Isaiah 18They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey, and to the beasts of the land. The birds will feed on them in summer, and all the wild animals in winter.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They shall be left together unto the ravenous birds of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth; and the ravenous birds shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.
KJV
They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.
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This verse in Isaiah 18
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
They shall be left together - The figure here is dropped, and the literal narration is resumed. The sense is, that the army shall be slain and left unburied. Perhaps the “branches and twigs” in the previous verse denoted military leaders, and the captains of the armies, which are now represented as becoming food for beasts of the field and for birds of prey. To the fowls of the mountains - Their dead bodies shall be unburied, and shall be a prey to the birds that prey upon flesh.
This site's exposition
I will quietly look on
on Isaiah 18:4-7
The LORD says, "I will quietly look on from My dwelling place". "He will cut off the shoots with a pruning knife", the pruning of the vinedresser himself. At that time "gifts will be brought to the LORD of Hosts" from the people of verse 2 "to Mount Zion".
This site's exposition
left to the mountain birds of prey
The vineyard gives way to the battlefield. Barnes takes the cut branches as the captains of an army, slain and left unburied for the birds of prey and the wild beasts. The feeding runs from summer into winter, so the dead lie long on the land.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(Vs. 4 and following) Because this is what the Lord says to me, I will rest and observe in my place: just as the bright midday light is, and like the clouds of dew in the day of harvest. Before the harvest, the whole field has blossomed, and the immature perfection will sprout, and its branches will be cut off by the sickle: and what has been left behind will be cut off, shaken off.
(Verse 5, 6.) For before the harvest it had flowered entirely, and immature perfection had sprouted, and its small branches will be cut with sickles, and whatever has been left behind will be cut off and shaken off. And they will be left with the birds of the mountains and the animals of the earth, and they will have perpetual summer over them, and all the animals of the earth will winter upon it.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Third, he places the abandonment of the field itself: and they shall be left, like an uncultivated field, which signifies the slaughter of men, after there were many beasts in the land of Egypt: these things says the Lord God, say to every fowl, and …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And they shall be left to the fowls of the mountains, and the beasts of the earth, to prey upon, both winter and summer; for as God's people are protected all seasons of the year, both in cold and heat (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
They shall be left, together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth,....
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
HORSLEY translates the Hebrew which is singular: "upon it," not "upon them"; the "it" refers to God's "dwelling-place" (Isa 18:4) in the Holy Land, which Antichrist ("the bird of prey" with the "beasts," his rebel hosts) is to possess himself of, and where he is to perish.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
For before the ripening of the harvest of Amalek and of Gog, when he has not yet filled his desire and his hope, that he plans to destroy his brothers.
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
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יֵעָזְב֤וּ | yeazevu | they will be abandoned | H5800 → | 215 times |
| יַחְדָּו֙ | yachdav | alike | H3162 → | 141 times |
| לְעֵ֣יט | leeit | to bird[s] of prey of | H5861 → | 8 times |
| הָרִ֔ים | harim | [the] mountains | H2022 → | 546 times |
| וּֽלְבֶהֱמַ֖ת | ulevehemat | and to [the] animal[s] of | H929 → | 190 times |
| הָאָ֑רֶץ | haaretz | the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וְקָ֤ץ | vekatz | and it will pass [the] summer | H6972 → | |
| עָלָיו֙ | ʾalav | on it | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הָעַ֔יִט | haayit | the bird[s] of prey | H5861 → | 8 times |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| בֶּהֱמַ֥ת | behemat | <the> animal of | H929 → | 190 times |
| הָאָ֖רֶץ | haaretz | the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| עָלָ֥יו | ʾalav | on it | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| תֶּחֱרָֽף׃ | techeraf | it will pass [the] winter | H2778 → | 41 times |
יֵעָזְב֤וּthey will be abandoned
yeazevuH5800 →215 times
יַחְדָּו֙alike
yachdavH3162 →141 times
לְעֵ֣יטto bird[s] of prey of
leeitH5861 →8 times
הָרִ֔ים[the] mountains
harimH2022 →546 times
וּֽלְבֶהֱמַ֖תand to [the] animal[s] of
ulevehematH929 →190 times
הָאָ֑רֶץthe earth
haaretzH776 →2504 times
וְקָ֤ץand it will pass [the] summer
vekatzH6972 →
עָלָיו֙on it
ʾalavH5921 →5755 times
הָעַ֔יִטthe bird[s] of prey
haayitH5861 →8 times
וְכָל־and every
vekholH3605 →5413 times
בֶּהֱמַ֥ת<the> animal of
behematH929 →190 times
הָאָ֖רֶץthe earth
haaretzH776 →2504 times
עָלָ֥יוon it
ʾalavH5921 →5755 times
תֶּחֱרָֽף׃it will pass [the] winter
techerafH2778 →41 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
Jeremiah 15:3I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the LORD: the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the air and beasts of the earth to devour…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 28:26
Your corpses will be food for all the birds of the air and beasts of the earth, with no one to scare them away.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 26:22
I will send wild animals against you to rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and reduce your numbers, until your roads lie desolate.
- Leviticus 26:16
then this is what I will do to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting disease, and fever that will destroy your sight and drain your life. You will sow your seed…
- Revelation 6:8
Then I looked and saw a pale green horse. Its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed close behind. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill by sword,…
- Leviticus 26:25
And I will bring a sword against you to execute the vengeance of the covenant. Though you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague among you, and you will be delivered into…
- Deuteronomy 28:26
Through
Jeremiah 7:33The corpses of this people will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to scare them away.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 12:9
Is not My inheritance to Me like a speckled bird of prey with other birds of prey circling against her? Go, gather all the beasts of the field; bring them to devour her.
- Revelation 19:17–18
Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out in a loud voice to all the birds flying overhead, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God,
- Ezekiel 39:18–20
You will eat the flesh of the mighty and drink the blood of the princes of the earth as though they were rams, lambs, goats, and bulls—all the fattened animals of Bashan.
- Jeremiah 12:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.