Isaiah 29:5
in Isaiah 29But your many foes will be like fine dust, the multitude of the ruthless like blowing chaff. Then suddenly, in an instant,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But the multitude of thy foes shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be in an instant suddenly.
KJV
Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.
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This verse in Isaiah 29
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Moreover - These verses Isa 29:5, Isa 29:7-8 contain a beautiful description of the destruction of the army of Sennacherib. Though they had laid the plan of a regular siege; though the city, in itself, would not be able to hold out against them, and all was alarm and conscious imbecility within; yet in an instant the siege would be raised, and the advancing hosts of the Assyrians would all be gone. The multitude of thy strangers - The multitude of the strangers that shall besiege thee; called ‘thy strangers,’ because they besieged, or oppressed thee.
This site's exposition
your many foes will be like fine dust
on Isaiah 29:5-6
The siege is reversed: "your many foes will be like fine dust", and it comes "suddenly, in an instant". The LORD of Hosts comes "with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, with windstorm and tempest". The fall of Sennacherib's army in one night is recorded at Isaiah 37:36.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 19, verse 1, and following) Woe to Ariel, Ariel the city that David besieged. Year after year is added, the appointed feasts have come to an end. I will besiege Ariel, and she will be sad and mournful; she will be like an Ariel to me. I will encircle you like a sphere, and I will throw up a mound against you, and I will set up siege works against you.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Third, he sets out the multitude of the enemy: and the multitude of them that fan you, shall be like small dust: a nation come up upon my land (Joel 1:6), or the destruction of the enemy, as above: he shall be carried away as …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Moreover, the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Moreover--rather, "Yet"; yet in this extremity help shall come, and the enemy be scattered. strangers--foreign enemies, invaders (Isa 25:2). it shall be--namely, the destruction of the enemy. at an instant--in a moment (Isa 30:23).
The multitude of thy strangers “The multitude of the proud” - For זריך zarayich, thy strangers, read זדים zedim, the proud, according to the Septuagint; parallel to and synonymous with עריצים aritsim, the terrible, in the next line: the ר resh was at first ד daleth in a MS. See note on Isa 25:2. The fifth, sixth, and seventh verses contain an admirable description of the destruction of Sennacherib’s army, with a beautiful variety of the most expressive and sublime images: perhaps more adapted to show the greatness, the suddenness, and horror of the event, than the means and manner by which it was effected. Compare Isa 30:30-33.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָיָ֛ה | vehayah | and it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כְּאָבָ֥ק | keavak | like dust | H80 → | |
| דַּ֖ק | dak | fine | H1851 → | |
| הֲמ֣וֹן | hamon | [the] multitude of | H1995 → | 83 times |
| זָרָ֑יִךְ | zarayikh | strangers your | H2114 → | 77 times |
| וּכְמֹ֤ץ | ukhemotz | and like chaff | H4671 → | 8 times |
| עֹבֵר֙ | ʾover | [which] passes away | H5674 → | 556 times |
| הֲמ֣וֹן | hamon | [the] multitude of | H1995 → | 83 times |
| עָֽרִיצִ֔ים | ʾaritzim | ruthless [people] | H6184 → | 20 times |
| וְהָיָ֖ה | vehayah | and it will happen | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לְפֶ֥תַע | lefeta' | to suddenness | H6621 → | |
| פִּתְאֹֽם׃ | pitom | suddenly | H6597 → | 25 times |
וְהָיָ֛הand it will be
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
כְּאָבָ֥קlike dust
keavakH80 →
דַּ֖קfine
dakH1851 →
הֲמ֣וֹן[the] multitude of
hamonH1995 →83 times
זָרָ֑יִךְstrangers your
zarayikhH2114 →77 times
וּכְמֹ֤ץand like chaff
ukhemotzH4671 →8 times
עֹבֵר֙[which] passes away
ʾoverH5674 →556 times
הֲמ֣וֹן[the] multitude of
hamonH1995 →83 times
עָֽרִיצִ֔יםruthless [people]
ʾaritzimH6184 →20 times
וְהָיָ֖הand it will happen
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
לְפֶ֥תַעto suddenness
lefeta'H6621 →
פִּתְאֹֽם׃suddenly
pitomH6597 →25 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
1 Thessalonians 5:3While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
it leads to
- Luke 21:34–35
But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.
- Matthew 24:37–39
As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.
- Luke 17:26–30
Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man:
- Revelation 18:7–8
As much as she has glorified herself and lived in luxury, give her the same measure of torment and grief. In her heart she says, ‘I sit as queen; I am not a widow…
- Psalms 73:18–20
Surely You set them on slick ground; You cast them down into ruin.
- Luke 21:34–35
Through
Isaiah 37:36Then 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 dead bodies!
it leads to
- Isaiah 10:12
So when the Lord has completed all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the fruit of his arrogant heart and the proud…
- 2 Kings 19:35
And 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…
- 1 Thessalonians 5:2–3
For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
- Isaiah 10:12
Where this verse is studied
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); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book 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) and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.