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Isaiah 37:26

in Isaiah 37

Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it; in days of old I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, that you should crush fortified cities into piles of rubble.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Hast thou not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? now have I brought it to pass, that it should be thine to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps.

KJV

Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it; and of ancient times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps.

This verse in Isaiah 37

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Lay waste defended cities into ruinous heaps “Lay waste warlike nations; strong fenced cities” - גלים נצים gallim nitstsim. It is not easy to give a satisfactory account of these two words, which have greatly embarrassed all the interpreters, ancient and modern. For גלים gallim I read גוים goyim, as the Septuagint do in this place, εθνη. The word נצים netsim the Vulgate renders in this place compugnantium; in the parallel place, 2Ki 19:25, pugnantium; and the Septuagint μαχιμων, fighting, warlike.

This site's exposition

Long ago I ordained it

on Isaiah 37:26-27

The LORD answers the boast with an authorship older than any campaign: Long ago I ordained it. Each victory the king counted as his own skill is reassigned: Now I have brought it to pass. Verse 27 describes the conquered peoples themselves as grass on the rooftops.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Isaiah · Written before 420.

proposed

(Verse 26 and following) Have you not heard what I did to him in the past? From ancient times I formed it, and now I have brought it forth, and it has become a ruin of the hills that fight against me, and of fortified cities. The inhabitants of those cities were brought low, they trembled and were confused. They became like the grass of the field, and the green herb, and the roof grass that withered before it could mature.

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Isaiah · Written before 1274.

proposed

Here he adds divine power, speaking in the person of God himself. And first, as to eternal preordination: what I have done, what I have intended to do concerning exaltation and destruction, of old, from eternity, from the days of old I have formed it, …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

Hast thou not heard long ago?.... By report, by reading the history of ancient times, or by means of the prophets; these are the words of the Lord to Sennacherib.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

All the malice, and all the motions and projects, of the church's enemies, are under the cognizance and check of the church's God. Sennacherib was active and quick, here, and there, and every where, but God knew his going out and coming in, and had always an eye upon him,

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

This was the reason why "the inhabitants were of small power before thee" (Isa 37:27), namely, that I ordered it so; yet thou art in My hands, and I know thy ways (Isa 37:28), and I will check thee (Isa 37:29). Connect also, "I from ancient times have arranged ('formed') it." However, English Version is supported by Isa 33:13;
1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Hast thou not heard - This is evidently the language of God addressed to Sennacherib. It is designed to state to him that he was under his control; that this was the reason Isa 37:27 why the inhabitants of the nations had been unable to resist him; that he was entirely in his hands Isa 37:28; and that lie would control him as he pleased Isa 37:29. Long ago how I have done it - You boast that all this is by your own counsel and power. Yet I have done it; that is, I have purposed, planned, arranged it long ago (compare Isa 22:11). That thou shouldest be to lay waste - I have raised you up for this purpose, and you have been entirely under my control (see the note at Isa 10:5).

The words behind it

16 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.

  • הֲלֽוֹא־¿ not

    halo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • שָׁמַ֤עְתָּhave you heard

    shama'taH8085 →1159 times

  • לְמֵֽרָחוֹק֙<to> from distant [time]

    lemerachokH7350 →84 times

  • אוֹתָ֣הּ<obj.> it

    ʾotahH853 →10935 times

  • עָשִׂ֔יתִיI appointed

    ʾasitiH6213 →2628 times

  • מִ֥ימֵיfrom days of

    mimeiH3117 →2304 times

  • קֶ֖דֶםantiquity

    kedemH6924 →87 times

  • וִיצַרְתִּ֑יהָand I planned it

    vitzartihaH3335 →62 times

  • עַתָּ֣הnow

    ʾatahH6258 →433 times

  • הֲבֵאתִ֔יהָI have brought it

    havetihaH935 →2568 times

  • וּתְהִ֗יand you are

    utehiH1961 →3559 times

  • לְהַשְׁא֛וֹת[about] to make desolate

    lehashotH7582 →6 times

  • גַּלִּ֥יםheaps

    galimH1530 →34 times

  • נִצִּ֖יםruined

    nitzimH5327 →

  • עָרִ֥יםcities

    ʾarimH5892 →1090 times

  • בְּצֻרֽוֹת׃fortified

    betzurotH1219 →37 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

    1 Peter 2:8

    and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word—and to this they were appointed.

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 8:14

      And He will be a sanctuary—but to both houses of Israel a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, to the dwellers of Jerusalem a trap and a snare.

    • 1 Corinthians 1:23

      but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,

    • 1 Peter 2:7

      To you who believe, then, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”

  • Through

    Acts 2:23

    He was delivered up by God’s set plan and foreknowledge, and you, by the hands of the lawless, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross.

    it leads to

    • Acts 4:28

      They carried out what Your hand and will had decided beforehand would happen.

    • Genesis 50:20

      As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this—to preserve the lives of many people.

    • Luke 22:22

      Indeed, the Son of Man will go as it has been determined, but woe to that man who betrays Him.”

    • Acts 3:18

      But in this way God has fulfilled what He foretold through all the prophets, saying that His Christ would suffer.

  • Through

    Isaiah 10:15

    Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it? Does a saw boast over him who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it, or…

    it leads to

    • Romans 9:20–21

      But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, “Why did You make me like this?”

Where this verse is studied

On this page

About Isaiah

The Prophet Isaiah, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Prophet Isaiah, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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; 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.