Skip to content
mannafest.faith

Isaiah 33:13

in Isaiah 33

You who are far off, hear what I have done; you who are near, acknowledge My might.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might.

KJV

Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might.

This verse in Isaiah 33

Commentary

7 notes on this verse
Hear, ye that are far off - This is an address of Yahweh, indicating that the destruction of the Assyrian army would be so signal that it would be known to distant nations, and would constitute an admonition to them. Ye that are near - Ye Jews; or the nations immediately adjacent to Judea. The phrase ‘far and near,’ is equivalent to all.

This site's exposition

hear what I have done

on Isaiah 33:13-14

The call goes to "You who are far off" and "you who are near". Fear rises in Jerusalem: "The sinners in Zion are afraid", asking who "can dwell with a consuming fire". Albert Barnes noted that the question is left open here and answered in the verses that follow.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

A commentator

Epistle of Barnabas

The Epistle of Barnabas, Chapter IX · Written before 132.

proposed

He speaks moreover concerning our ears, how He hath circumcised both them and our heart. The Lord saith in the prophet, "In the hearing of the ear they obeyed me." And again He saith, "By hearing, those shall hear who are afar off; they shall …

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Isaiah · Written before 420.

proposed

(Ver. 13 et seq.) Hear, you who are far away, what I have done, and know the strength of my neighbors. Sinners are terrified in Zion, hypocrites are trembling. Who among you can dwell with devouring fire? Who among you can endure everlasting burnings? The one who walks in righteousness and speaks truth, who rejects greed by slander, and keeps his hands away from every gift, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, and shuts his eyes from seeing evil.

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Isaiah · Written before 1274.

proposed

722. Hear. Here he invites to the consideration of such a fact; and first, to the consideration of the magnitude of the liberating divine power; second, to the consideration of the fitness of the liberated, who, namely, were fit to be thus liberated by the …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Those are very stupid who hear what God has done and yet will not acknowledge his might. Now what is it that God has done which we must take notice of, and in which we must acknowledge his might? He has struck a terror upon the sinners in Zion (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done,....

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

you far-off ones Those who believe in Me and do My will from their youth.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Isaiah 33:13:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Sinners in Zion were afraid How they would find an opening to repent.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Isaiah 33:14:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

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

7 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.

  • שִׁמְע֥וּhear

    shimuH8085 →1159 times

  • רְחוֹקִ֖יםO distant [ones]

    rechokimH7350 →84 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣ר[that] which

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • עָשִׂ֑יתִיI have done

    ʾasitiH6213 →2628 times

  • וּדְע֥וּand know

    udeuH3045 →945 times

  • קְרוֹבִ֖יםO near [ones]

    kerovimH7138 →77 times

  • גְּבֻרָתִֽי׃strength my

    gevuratiH1369 →61 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

    Isaiah 49:1

    Listen to Me, O islands; pay attention, O distant peoples: The LORD called Me from the womb; from the body of My mother He named Me.

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 1:5

      “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

    • Galatians 1:15

      But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace, was pleased

    • Isaiah 44:2

      This is the word of the LORD, your Maker, who formed you from the womb and who will help you: “Do not be afraid, O Jacob My servant, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.

    • Isaiah 49:5

      And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, that Israel might be gathered to Him—for I am honored in the sight…

    • Luke 1:31

      Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus.

  • Through

    Daniel 3:27

    and when the satraps, prefects, governors, and royal advisers had gathered around, they saw that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men. Not a hair of their heads was singed,…

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 43:2

      When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you go through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched;…

    • Hebrews 11:34

      quenched the raging fire, and escaped the edge of the sword; who gained strength from weakness, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight.

  • Through

    Psalms 48:10

    Your name, O God, like Your praise, reaches to the ends of the earth; Your right hand is full of righteousness.

    it leads to

    • Malachi 1:11

      For My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place, incense and pure offerings will be presented in My name, because My name…

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

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); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Epistle of Barnabas, The Epistle of Barnabas, Chapter IX; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.