Isaiah 28:21
in Isaiah 28For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim. He will rouse Himself as in the Valley of Gibeon, to do His work, His strange work, and to perform His task, His disturbing task.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For Jehovah will rise up as in mount Perazim, he will be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon; that he may do his work, his strange work, and bring to pass his act, his strange act.
KJV
For the Lord shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.
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This verse in Isaiah 28
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
For the Lord shall rise up - To rise up is indicative of going forth to judgment, as when one rises from his seat to accomplish anything. As in mount Perazim - There is reference here, doubtless, to the event recorded in 2Sa 5:20-21, and 1Ch 14:11, where David is said to have defeated the Philistines at Baal-Perazim. This place was near to the valley of Rephaim 2Sa 5:19, and not far from Jerusalem.
This site's exposition
His strange work
on Isaiah 28:21-22
The LORD will rise "as at Mount Perazim", where He gave David victory, and "as in the Valley of Gibeon", Joshua's long day. Those battles were fought for Israel, and now He will do "His strange work" and "His disturbing task" against His own people.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 21, 22.) For just as the Lord will stand on the mountain of divisions, and will be angry in the valley of Gibeon, to do his work, his strange work, to carry out his task, his alien task. And now do not mock: lest perhaps your chains be tightened. For I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a conclusion and an abbreviation over all the earth.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Hence Isaiah, contemplating our salvation and [Christ's] passion, well said: "That he may do his work, his strange work; that he may perform his work, his work is strange to him." For the work of God is to gather the souls that he created and call them back to the joys of the eternal light. But it is not the work [of] God in his essence to be flogged, to be smeared with spittle, to be crucified, to die and to be buried, but this is the work of a sinful person who deserved all these things for his sins. But [Jesus] himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree. And he who in his own nature always remains incomprehensible deigned to be comprehended in our nature and to be flogged, because if he had not assumed the attributes of our weakness he could never have raised us to the power of his fortitude.… And he does his strange work that he might do his proper work, because insofar as he bore our sins in infirmity he led us who are his creatures to the glory of his fortitude in which he lives and reigns with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, through ages of ages. Amen.
Second, he sets out the coming of the liberator, as in the mountain of divisions. He refers to the history which is found in 2 Kings 5; as in the valley, Joshua 10. Third, he excludes the help of mercy: that he may do his …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Perazim - Where he fought against the Philistines, 2 Sam. v, 20. Gibeon - Where he fought against the Canaanites, Josh. x, 10, &c. and afterwards against the Philistines, 1 Chron. xiv, 16. Strange work - For this work of bringing total destruction upon Israel, was contrary to the benignity of his own nature, and to the usual way of dealing with his people.
Thirdly, This will be his strange work, his strange act, his foreign deed. It is work that he is backward to: he rather delights in showing mercy, and does not afflict willingly. It is work that he is not used to as to his own people; he protects and favours them.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
All this is confirmed by a comparison borrowed from the method which the husbandman takes with his ground and grain, according to which they must expect God would proceed with his people, whom he had lately called his threshing and the corn of his floor ( ch. xxi.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
For the Lord shall rise up as in Mount Perazim,.... Where the Lord broke forth on David's enemies the Philistines, as the breach of waters; see Isa 28:17 and destroyed them, from whence the place had the name of Baalperazim, 2Sa 5:
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
2Sa 5:25, Margin); not Joshua's victory (Jos 10:10). strange--as being against His own people; judgment is not what God delights in; it is, though necessary, yet strange to Him (La 3:33). work--punishing the guilty (Isa 10:12).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
As in Mount Perazim - כהר kehar; but בהר bahar, In the mount, is the reading of two of Kennicott’s, one of De Rossi’s, and one of my own MSS.
The words behind it
16 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 |
| כְהַר־ | khehar- | like [the] mountain of | H2022 → | 546 times |
| פְּרָצִים֙ | peratzim | Perazim | H6559 → | |
| יָק֣וּם | yakum | he will arise | H6965 → | 628 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כְּעֵ֖מֶק | keemek | like a valley | H6010 → | 69 times |
| בְּגִבְע֣וֹן | begivon | in Gibeon | H1391 → | |
| יִרְגָּ֑ז | yirgaz | he will rage | H7264 → | 41 times |
| לַעֲשׂ֤וֹת | laasot | to do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| מַעֲשֵׂ֙הוּ֙ | maasehu | deed his | H4639 → | 236 times |
| זָ֣ר | zar | [is] strange | H2114 → | 77 times |
| מַעֲשֵׂ֔הוּ | maasehu | deed his | H4639 → | 236 times |
| וְלַֽעֲבֹד֙ | velaavod | and to work | H5647 → | 288 times |
| עֲבֹ֣דָת֔וֹ | avodato | work his | H5656 → | 145 times |
| נָכְרִיָּ֖ה | nakheriyah | [is] alien | H5237 → | |
| עֲבֹדָתֽוֹ׃ | avodato | work his | H5656 → | 145 times |
כִּ֤יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
כְהַר־like [the] mountain of
khehar-H2022 →546 times
פְּרָצִים֙Perazim
peratzimH6559 →
יָק֣וּםhe will arise
yakumH6965 →628 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
כְּעֵ֖מֶקlike a valley
keemekH6010 →69 times
בְּגִבְע֣וֹןin Gibeon
begivonH1391 →
יִרְגָּ֑זhe will rage
yirgazH7264 →41 times
לַעֲשׂ֤וֹתto do
laasotH6213 →2628 times
מַעֲשֵׂ֙הוּ֙deed his
maasehuH4639 →236 times
זָ֣ר[is] strange
zarH2114 →77 times
מַעֲשֵׂ֔הוּdeed his
maasehuH4639 →236 times
וְלַֽעֲבֹד֙and to work
velaavodH5647 →288 times
עֲבֹ֣דָת֔וֹwork his
avodatoH5656 →145 times
נָכְרִיָּ֖ה[is] alien
nakheriyahH5237 →
עֲבֹדָתֽוֹ׃work his
avodatoH5656 →145 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
Joshua 10:12On the day that the LORD gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the LORD in the presence of Israel: “O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley…
it leads to
- Habakkuk 3:11
Sun and moon stood still in their places at the flash of Your flying arrows, at the brightness of Your shining spear.
- Isaiah 38:8
I will make the sun’s shadow that falls on the stairway of Ahaz go back ten steps.’” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had descended.
- Isaiah 60:20
Your sun will no longer set, and your moon will not wane; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and the days of your sorrow will cease.
- Joshua 10:13
So the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation took vengeance upon its enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? “So the sun stopped in the middle of…
- Job 9:7
He commands the sun not to shine; He seals off the stars.
- Habakkuk 3:11
Through
Joshua 10:10And the LORD threw them into confusion before Israel, who defeated them in a great slaughter at Gibeon, pursued them along the ascent to Beth-horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and…
it leads to
- Psalms 18:14
He shot His arrows and scattered the foes; He hurled lightning and routed them.
- Psalms 18:14
Through
1 Chronicles 14:11So David and his men went up to Baal-perazim, where he defeated the Philistines and said, “Like a bursting flood, God has burst out against my enemies by my hand.” So they called that…
it leads to
- Matthew 7:27
The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its collapse!”
- Psalms 144:10
to Him who gives victory to kings, who frees His servant David from the deadly sword.
- Matthew 7:27
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Isaiah
This page draws on 11 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); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Gregory the Dialogist, Homilies on Ezekiel 2.4.20; 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; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.