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Isaiah 25:3

in Isaiah 25

Therefore, a strong people will honor You. The cities of ruthless nations will revere You.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Therefore shall a strong people glorify thee; a city of terrible nations shall fear thee.

KJV

Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee.

This verse in Isaiah 25

Commentary

9 notes on this verse

A commentator

Cyril of Alexandria

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 3:1.25 · Written before 444.

Israel was called to the knowledge of God through the tutoring of the law and was richly endowed with the things of God. It was delivered [from Egypt] and inherited the Promised Land. Although there were many other peoples living in other parts of the world, all were alien to spiritual matters and heavenly things. They had not tasted the gifts that come from God.

This site's exposition

O LORD, You are my God

on Isaiah 25:1-3

The oracles against the nations give way to a song, "O LORD, You are my God". The singer praises "plans formed long ago" carried out "in perfect faithfulness", which ties the song to the oracles. The fortified town is "a ruin", and "The cities of ruthless nations will revere You".

This site's exposition

a strong people will honor You

The ruthless nations are brought to revere the LORD by the fall of the fortress in verse 2. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown name them as the peoples Babylon had crushed. Fear turns into honor.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Isaiah · Written before 420.

proposed

(Chapter 25 — Verse 1 and following) O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for you have done marvelous things, faithful and true are your ancient thoughts. Amen. For you have made a city into a heap, a fortified city into ruins, a palace of foreigners, so that it is no longer a city and will never be rebuilt. On this the strong people will praise you, the city of the mighty nations will fear you.

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Isaiah · Written before 1274.

proposed

587. Therefore shall a strong people praise you. Here he sets out the fruit of punishment in the subjection of men to God. And first, he sets out two signs of subjection: praise, a strong people shall praise you, strong, as much as they are …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Of those people that have been strong and terrible against God. Those that have been enemies to God's kingdom, and have fought against the interests of it with a great deal of strength and terror, shall either be converted, and glorify God by joining with his people in his service, or at least convinced, so as to own themselves conquered.
Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

The strong people - The reference here is not probably to the Babylonians, but to the surrounding nations. The deliverance of the Jews, and the destruction of Babylon, would be such striking events that they would lead the surrounding nations to acknowledge that it was the hand of God. The city of the terrible nations - The word ‘city’ here is taken probably in a collective sense, to denote the cities or the strong places of the surrounding nations which would be brought thus to tremble before God.
1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

strong people--This cannot apply to the Jews; but other nations on which Babylon had exercised its cruelty (Isa 14:12) shall worship Jehovah, awed by the judgment inflicted on Babylon (Isa 23:18). city--not Babylon, which shall then be destroyed, but collectively for the cities of the surrounding nations.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

The words behind it

9 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • עַל־there-

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • כֵּ֖ן-fore

    kenH3651 →771 times

  • יְכַבְּד֣וּךָthey will honor you

    yekhabedukhaH3513 →113 times

  • עַם־a people

    ʾam-H5971 →1873 times

  • עָ֑זstrong

    ʾazH5794 →24 times

  • קִרְיַ֛תa town of

    kiryatH7151 →29 times

  • גּוֹיִ֥םnations

    goyimH1471 →561 times

  • עָרִיצִ֖יםruthless

    ʾaritzimH6184 →20 times

  • יִירָאֽוּךָ׃they will fear you

    yiraukhaH3372 →315 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Zechariah 14:9

    On that day the LORD will become King over all the earth—the LORD alone, and His name alone.

    it leads to

    • Ephesians 4:5–6

      one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

    • Revelation 11:15

      Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign…

    • Daniel 7:27

      Then the sovereignty, dominion, and greatness of the kingdoms under all of heaven will be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all…

    • Isaiah 2:2–4

      In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to…

    • Zephaniah 3:9

      For then I will restore pure lips to the peoples, that all may call upon the name of the LORD and serve Him shoulder to shoulder.

  • Through

    Zechariah 14:16

    Then all the survivors from the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of Hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 66:23

      From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come to worship before Me,” says the LORD.

    • Zechariah 14:17–19

      And should any of the families of the earth not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of Hosts, then the rain will not fall on them.

    • Isaiah 66:18–21

      “And I, knowing their deeds and thoughts, am coming to gather all nations and tongues, and they will come and see My glory.

Where this verse is studied

About Isaiah

The Prophet Isaiah, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Prophet Isaiah, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 3:1.25; 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.