Isaiah 33:12
in Isaiah 33The peoples will be burned to ashes, like thorns cut down and set ablaze.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the peoples shall be as the burnings of lime, as thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.
KJV
And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire.
⋯
This verse in Isaiah 33
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And the people - In the army of Sennacherib. As the burnings of lime - As if placed in a burning lime-kiln, where they must certainly be destroyed (see Isa 30:33; compare Amo 2:1). As thorns cut up - As thorns, or small brushwood, that has been long cut up and perfectly dried are speedily consumed, so shall it be with the Assyrian army. This is an image like many that are employed, denoting that the destruction of the army of the Assyrians would be sudden and entire.
This site's exposition
Now I will arise
on Isaiah 33:10-12
The LORD answers the ruin with His own rising: "Now I will arise". He tells the enemy, "You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble". Matthew Henry read "The peoples will be burned to ashes, like thorns cut down and set ablaze" as swift and total destruction.
This site's exposition
like thorns cut down and set ablaze
Thorns cut down long before are dry and burn in moments. Barnes read the peoples here as the army of the destroyer, consumed by fire suddenly and entirely. The sinners in Zion ask in verse 14 who can dwell with such a consuming fire.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 7 and following) Behold, those who see will cry out: The angels of peace will weep bitterly. The roads are abandoned, the passer-by has ceased on the path, the pact has become void, cities have been thrown down, men have not been regarded. The land has mourned and languished, Lebanon is confused and darkened, Sharon has become like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel have been shaken.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Third, he sets out the manner of the resistance or of the punishment: and the people shall be as ashes after a fire, because their bodies were literally reduced to ashes; thorns, that is, the Assyrians, because they were tearing others: you shall tread down …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Note, God's judgments upon the enemies of Zion should strike a terror upon the sinners in Zion, nay, David himself trembles at them, Ps. cxix. God himself is this devouring fire, Heb. xii. Who is able to stand before him?
When the sinners in Zion saw what dreadful execution the wrath of God made they were in a great fright, being conscious to themselves that they had provoked this God by their secretly worshipping other gods; and therefore they cry out, Who among us shall dwell with this devouring fire, before which so vast an army is as thorns?
Encouragement to God's People. 13 Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might. 14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:88%@v12-14
1 more voice on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And the people shall be as the burnings of lime,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
chaff (חֲשַׁשׁ) a kind of chaff, something that is easily ignited.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
you far-off ones Those who believe in Me and do My will from their youth.
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. 3 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
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָי֥וּ | vehayu | and they will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| עַמִּ֖ים | ʾamim | peoples | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| מִשְׂרְפ֣וֹת | misrefot | burnings of | H4955 → | |
| שִׂ֑יד | sid | lime | H7875 → | |
| קוֹצִ֥ים | kotzim | thornbushes | H6975 → | |
| כְּסוּחִ֖ים | kesuchim | cut down | H3683 → | |
| בָּאֵ֥שׁ | baesh | with <the> fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| יִצַּֽתּוּ׃ ס | yitzatu | they will be kindled | H3341 → |
וְהָי֥וּand they will be
vehayuH1961 →3559 times
עַמִּ֖יםpeoples
ʾamimH5971 →1873 times
מִשְׂרְפ֣וֹתburnings of
misrefotH4955 →
שִׂ֑ידlime
sidH7875 →
קוֹצִ֥יםthornbushes
kotzimH6975 →
כְּסוּחִ֖יםcut down
kesuchimH3683 →
בָּאֵ֥שׁwith <the> fire
baeshH784 →378 times
יִצַּֽתּוּ׃ סthey will be kindled
yitzatuH3341 →
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
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
- 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…
- 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…
- 1 Thessalonians 5:2–3
For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
- 2 Samuel 24:16
But when the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that…
- Isaiah 10:33–34
Behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts will lop off the branches with terrifying power. The tall trees will be cut down, the lofty ones will be felled.
- 2 Kings 19:35
Through
Amos 2:1This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Moab, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because he burned to lime the bones of Edom’s king.
it leads to
- Zephaniah 2:8–9
“I have heard the reproach of Moab and the insults of the Ammonites, who have taunted My people and threatened their borders.
- Zephaniah 2:8–9
Through
Isaiah 27:4I am not angry. If only thorns and briers confronted Me, I would march and trample them, I would burn them to the ground.
it leads to
- Hebrews 6:8
But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless, and its curse is imminent. In the end it will be burned.
- Isaiah 10:17
And the Light of Israel will become a fire, and its Holy One a flame. In a single day it will burn and devour Assyria’s thorns and thistles.
- Hebrews 6:8
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); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; 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.