Isaiah 29:8
in Isaiah 29as when a hungry man dreams he is eating, then awakens still hungry; as when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking, then awakens faint and parched. So will it be for all the many nations who go to battle against Mount Zion.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it shall be as when a hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.
KJV
It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.
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This verse in Isaiah 29
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
It shall even be ... - This is a most striking figure representing the earnest desire of the Assyrian to possess the city of Jerusalem, and his utter disappointment. The comparison is elegant and beautiful in the highest degree. It is performed up to great perfection; and is perfectly suited to illustrate the object in view. The same image substantially is found in the classic writers; and this, says Lowth, may, for beauty and ingenuity, fairly come in competition with one of the most elegant of Virgil (greatly improved from Homer, “Iliad” xxii.
This site's exposition
will be like a dream
on Isaiah 29:7-8
All the nations that war against Ariel "will be like a dream, like a vision in the night", gone when one wakes. The picture is doubled, for "a hungry man dreams he is eating, then awakens still hungry". So it will be "for all the many nations".
This site's exposition
as when a hungry man dreams
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown set the hungry man who dreams beside Psalm 73:20, where the wicked vanish like a dream when one awakens. The armies marching on Mount Zion dream of eating the city. They awaken hungry and parched.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
And those who sleep are those who, when they ought to be taking heed and watching with the soul, are not doing this. But by reason of great want of attention they are nodding in resolution and are drowsy in their reflections, such as "in their dreaming defile the flesh, and set at nothing that which is highest in authority, and rail at dignities." And these, because they are asleep, live in an atmosphere of vain and dreamlike fancies concerning realities. [They do not admit] the things that are actually true, but [they are] deceived by what appears in their vain imaginations. In regard to [them] it is said in Isaiah, "Like as when a thirsty man dreams that he is drinking, but when he has risen up is still thirsty, and his soul has cherished a vain hope, so shall be the wealth of all the nations, as many as have warred in Jerusalem."
(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.
Truly, this life is a dream, a dream of riches; for when we seem to have them within our grasp, immediately they slip away. Isaiah expresses this same thought: "As when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking and awakens faint and dry," so indeed are the riches of this world; while we are reaching out for them they are gone.
The Medieval Church1 voice
656. And the multitude of all nations that have fought against Ariel, shall be as the dream. Here he adds some consolation from the punishment of the enemy, for like a vain thing, they will go into nothing, not carrying back anything advantageous from the …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
It shall be even as when a hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth,....
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)
Their disappointment in the very height of their confident expectation of taking Jerusalem shall be as great as that of the hungry man who in a dream fancies he eats, but awakes to hunger still (Ps 73:20); their dream shall be dissipated on the fatal morning (Isa 37:36). soul--simply his appetite: he is still thirsty.
The words behind it
28 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָיָ֡ה | vehayah | and it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כַּאֲשֶׁר֩ | kaasher | just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יַחֲלֹ֨ם | yachalom | he dreams | H2492 → | 29 times |
| הָרָעֵ֜ב | haraev | the hungry [person] | H7457 → | 20 times |
| וְהִנֵּ֣ה | vehineh | and there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| אוֹכֵ֗ל | ʾokhel | [he is] eating | H398 → | 810 times |
| וְהֵקִיץ֮ | vehekitz | and he awakes | H6974 → | 22 times |
| וְרֵיקָ֣ה | vereikah | and [is] empty | H7386 → | |
| נַפְשׁוֹ֒ | nafsho | appetite his | H5315 → | 754 times |
| וְכַאֲשֶׁ֨ר | vekhaasher | and just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יַחֲלֹ֤ם | yachalom | he dreams | H2492 → | 29 times |
| הַצָּמֵא֙ | hatzame' | the thirsty [person] | H6771 → | 9 times |
| וְהִנֵּ֣ה | vehineh | and there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| שֹׁתֶ֔ה | shoteh | [he is] drinking | H8354 → | 217 times |
| וְהֵקִיץ֙ | vehekitz | and he awakes | H6974 → | 22 times |
| וְהִנֵּ֣ה | vehineh | and there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| עָיֵ֔ף | ʾayef | [he is] faint | H5889 → | 17 times |
| וְנַפְשׁ֖וֹ | venafsho | and throat his | H5315 → | 754 times |
| שׁוֹקֵקָ֑ה | shokekah | [is] longing | H8264 → | |
| כֵּ֣ן | ken | so | H3651 → | 771 times |
| יִֽהְיֶ֗ה | yihyeh | it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| הֲמוֹן֙ | hamon | [the] multitude of | H1995 → | 83 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַגּוֹיִ֔ם | hagoyim | the nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| הַצֹּבְאִ֖ים | hatzoeim | which wage war | H6633 → | 14 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַ֥ר | har | [the] mountain of | H2022 → | 546 times |
| צִיּֽוֹן׃ ס | tziyon | Zion | H6726 → | 154 times |
וְהָיָ֡הand it will be
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
כַּאֲשֶׁר֩just as
kaasherH834 →5497 times
יַחֲלֹ֨םhe dreams
yachalomH2492 →29 times
הָרָעֵ֜בthe hungry [person]
haraevH7457 →20 times
וְהִנֵּ֣הand there!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
אוֹכֵ֗ל[he is] eating
ʾokhelH398 →810 times
וְהֵקִיץ֮and he awakes
vehekitzH6974 →22 times
וְרֵיקָ֣הand [is] empty
vereikahH7386 →
נַפְשׁוֹ֒appetite his
nafshoH5315 →754 times
וְכַאֲשֶׁ֨רand just as
vekhaasherH834 →5497 times
יַחֲלֹ֤םhe dreams
yachalomH2492 →29 times
הַצָּמֵא֙the thirsty [person]
hatzame'H6771 →9 times
וְהִנֵּ֣הand there!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
שֹׁתֶ֔ה[he is] drinking
shotehH8354 →217 times
וְהֵקִיץ֙and he awakes
vehekitzH6974 →22 times
וְהִנֵּ֣הand there!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
עָיֵ֔ף[he is] faint
ʾayefH5889 →17 times
וְנַפְשׁ֖וֹand throat his
venafshoH5315 →754 times
שׁוֹקֵקָ֑ה[is] longing
shokekahH8264 →
כֵּ֣ןso
kenH3651 →771 times
יִֽהְיֶ֗הit will be
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
הֲמוֹן֙[the] multitude of
hamonH1995 →83 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הַגּוֹיִ֔םthe nations
hagoyimH1471 →561 times
הַצֹּבְאִ֖יםwhich wage war
hatzoeimH6633 →14 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הַ֥ר[the] mountain of
harH2022 →546 times
צִיּֽוֹן׃ סZion
tziyonH6726 →154 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
Psalms 73:20Like one waking from a dream, so You, O Lord, awaken and despise their form.
it leads to
- Job 20:8
He will fly away like a dream, never to be found; he will be chased away like a vision in the night.
- Psalms 78:65
Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a mighty warrior overcome by wine.
- Job 20:8
Through
Isaiah 44:12The blacksmith takes a tool and labors over the coals; he fashions an idol with hammers and forges it with his strong arms. Yet he grows hungry and loses his strength; he fails to…
it leads to
- Isaiah 40:19
To an idol that a craftsman casts and a metalworker overlays with gold and fits with silver chains?
- Isaiah 41:6–7
Each one helps the other and says to his brother, “Be strong!”
- Isaiah 46:6–7
They pour out their bags of gold and weigh out silver on scales; they hire a goldsmith to fashion it into a god, so they can bow down and worship.
- Isaiah 40:19
Through
2 Chronicles 32:21and 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…
it leads to
- Isaiah 37:36–38
Then 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!
- Psalms 76:5
The valiant lie plundered; they sleep their last sleep. No men of might could lift a hand.
- Acts 12:23
Immediately, because Herod did not give glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.
- Isaiah 37:36–38
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on 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; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; Jerome, HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 9 (PSALM 75); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 10 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.
