Isaiah 33:19
in Isaiah 33You will no longer see the insolent, a people whose speech is unintelligible, who stammer in a language you cannot understand.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou shalt not see the fierce people, a people of a deep speech that thou canst not comprehend, of a strange tongue that thou canst not understand.
KJV
Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.
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This verse in Isaiah 33
Commentary
9 notes on this verseSecond, those who are eminent in eloquence, but not in wisdom: the people of profound speech: behold I will bring upon you a nation whose language you shall not know (Jer 5:15).
This site's exposition
see the King in His beauty
on Isaiah 33:17-19
The righteous are promised, "Your eyes will see the King in His beauty". The mind will "ponder the former terror", and "You will no longer see the insolent, a people whose speech is unintelligible". John Gill read the whole passage as the siege just survived, reversed point for point.
This site's exposition
a people whose speech is unintelligible
The insolent people who came up to the walls of Jerusalem will no longer be seen. John Wesley took their unintelligible speech as the mark of a foreign nation, a people whose language Zion could not understand. The terror of their stammering speech ends.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(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 Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
A fierce - That fierce and warlike people, whom thou hast seen with terror, near the walls of Jerusalem, thou shalt see no more. A people - A foreign nation, whose language is unknown to thee.
4 And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpillar: as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them. 5 The L ORD is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness. 6 And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the L ORD is his treasure.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:93%@v4-6
Thou shalt not see a fierce people,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Thou shalt not see a fierce people - Or, rather, ‘this fierce and boasting people you shall not see.’ They shall not enter the city; but though they are advancing with so much confidence, they shall be suddenly cut, off and destroyed. The word rendered “fierce,” (נועז nô‛âz from נעז yâ‛az), probably means strong, or wicked. Lowth renders it, ‘barbarous people,’ as if it were לועז lô‛ēz. Michaelis also adopts this reading by supposing an error in transcribing, a change of the Hebrew letter נ (n) into the Hebrew letter ל (l).
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)
proposed
Zec 14:2). stammering--barbarous; so "deeper," &c., that is, unintelligible. The Assyrian tongue differed only in dialect from the Hebrew, but in the Assyrian levies were many of non-Semitic race and language, as the Medes, Elamites, &c. (see on Isa 28:11).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עַ֥ם | ʾam | a people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| נוֹעָ֖ז | noaz | barbarous | H3267 → | |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִרְאֶ֑ה | tireh | you will see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| עַ֣ם | ʾam | a people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| עִמְקֵ֤י | ʾimkei | [too] unintelligible of | H6012 → | |
| שָׂפָה֙ | safah | lip | H8193 → | 176 times |
| מִשְּׁמ֔וֹעַ | mishemoa' | for hearing | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| נִלְעַ֥ג | nilag | stammering of | H3932 → | |
| לָשׁ֖וֹן | lashon | tongue | H3956 → | 117 times |
| אֵ֥ין | ʾein | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| בִּינָֽה׃ | binah | [is] understanding | H998 → | 38 times |
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עַ֥םa people
ʾamH5971 →1873 times
נוֹעָ֖זbarbarous
noazH3267 →
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תִרְאֶ֑הyou will see
tirehH7200 →1300 times
עַ֣םa people
ʾamH5971 →1873 times
עִמְקֵ֤י[too] unintelligible of
ʾimkeiH6012 →
שָׂפָה֙lip
safahH8193 →176 times
מִשְּׁמ֔וֹעַfor hearing
mishemoa'H8085 →1159 times
נִלְעַ֥גstammering of
nilagH3932 →
לָשׁ֖וֹןtongue
lashonH3956 →117 times
אֵ֥יןthere not
ʾeinH369 →789 times
בִּינָֽה׃[is] understanding
binahH998 →38 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
Isaiah 28:11Indeed, with mocking lips and foreign tongues, He will speak to this people
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 28:49
The LORD will bring a nation from afar, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down upon you like an eagle—a nation whose language you will not understand,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Corinthians 14:21
It is written in the Law: “By strange tongues and foreign lips I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to Me, says the Lord.”
- Jeremiah 5:15
Behold, I am bringing a distant nation against you, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD. “It is an established nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know and whose…
- Deuteronomy 28:49
Through
Jeremiah 5:15Behold, I am bringing a distant nation against you, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD. “It is an established nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know and whose…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 4:16
Warn the nations now! Proclaim to Jerusalem: “A besieging army comes from a distant land; they raise their voices against the cities of Judah.
- Isaiah 5:26
He lifts a banner for the distant nations and whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Behold—how speedily and swiftly they come!
- Isaiah 28:11
Indeed, with mocking lips and foreign tongues, He will speak to this people
- Jeremiah 25:9
behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents,…
- Jeremiah 4:16
Through
2 Kings 19:32So this is what the LORD says about the king of Assyria: ‘He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow into it. He will not come before it with a shield or…
it leads to
- Isaiah 8:7–10
the Lord will surely bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates—the king of Assyria and all his pomp. It will overflow its channels and overrun its banks.
- Isaiah 8:7–10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah
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); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.