Isaiah 5:30
in Isaiah 5In that day they will roar over it, like the roaring of the sea. If one looks over the land, he will see darkness and distress; even the light will be obscured by clouds.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they shall roar against them in that day like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold, darkness and distress; and the light is darkened in the clouds thereof.
KJV
And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.
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This verse in Isaiah 5
Commentary
11 notes on this verseAnd it will sound over him in that day like the roaring of the sea: we will look to the land, and behold, darkness of distress, and the light is obscured by its shadow. And the shouting of the victorious army is likened to the waves of the sea. From which it should be noted whenever the sound of the sea is referred to in the Scriptures, what it signifies.
This site's exposition
He lifts a banner for
on Isaiah 5:26-30
The chapter names the instrument of judgment without naming a nation, a banner lifted for "the distant nations." The older commentators read the sharpened arrows as the Assyrian army, named only in later chapters. The chapter that opened with a love song for a vineyard ends in "darkness and distress."
This site's exposition
even the light will be obscured by clouds
Henry reads two looks here, one at the land and one at the sky, and both find darkness. Wesley notes that men in distress look up to the heavens and find no light there. Isaiah 8:22 ends with the same pair, distress and darkness.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
202. Third, rigid domination, and they shall make a noise, with threats and terrors: behold a people comes from the land of the north, and a great nation shall rise up from the ends of the earth. They shall lay hold on arrow and shield: …
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
First, Look round to the earth, to the land, to that land that used to be the land of light and the joy of the whole earth, and behold darkness and sorrow, all frightful, all mournful, nothing hopeful. Secondly, Look up to heaven, and there the light is darkened, where one would expect to have found it. If the light is darkened in the heavens, how great is that darkness!
7 For the vineyard of the L ORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry. See what variety of methods the great God takes to awaken sinners to repentance by convincing them of sin, and showing them their misery and danger by reason of it.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-run:29w-of-66
Sorrow - Darkness; that is, sorrow; the latter word explains the former. The heavens - When they look up to the heavens, as men in distress usually do, they see no light there.
And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
If one look unto the land, etc. “And these shall look to the heaven upward, and down to the earth” - ונבט לארץ venibbat laarets. Και εμβλεψονται εις την γην.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
sorrow, and the light is darkened--Otherwise, distress and light (that is, hope and fear) alternately succeed (as usually occurs in an unsettled state of things), and darkness arises in, &c. [MAURER]. heavens--literally, "clouds," that is, its sky is rather "clouds" than sky. Otherwise from a different Hebrew root, "in its destruction" or ruins.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
They shall roar against them - The army that shall come up shall roar against the Jews. The image of “the roaring of the sea” indicates the great number that would come; that of the roaring of the “lion” denotes their fierceness and terror. And if one look unto the land - This expression has given some perplexity, because it is supposed not to be full or complete. The whole image, it has been supposed (see “Lowth”), would be that of looking “upward” to the heaven for help, and then to the land, or “earth;” compare Isa 8:22, where the same expression is used. But there is no need of supposing the expression defective. The prophet speaks of the vast multitude that was coming up and roaring like the tumultuous “ocean.” On “that” side there was no safety. The waves were rolling, and everything was suited to produce alarm. It was natural to speak of the “other” direction, as the “land,” or the shore; and to say that the people would look there for safety. But, says he, there would be no safety there. All would be darkness. Darkness and sorrow - This is an image of distress and calamity. There should be no light; no consolation; no safety; compare Isa 59:9; Amo 5:18, Amo 5:20; Lam 3:2. And the light is darkened ... - That which gave light is turned to darkness. In the heavens thereof - In the “clouds,” perhaps, or by the gloomy thick clouds. Lowth renders it, ‘the light is obscured by the gloomy vapor.’ The main idea is plain, that there would be distress and calamity; and that there would be no light to guide them on their way. On the one hand a roaring, ragtag multitude, like the sea; on the other distress, perplexity, and gloom. Thus shut up, they must perish, and their land be utterly desolate.
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְיִנְהֹ֥ם | veyinhom | and it may growl | H5098 → | |
| עָלָ֛יו | ʾalav | over it | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| בַּיּ֥וֹם | baiyom | in the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַה֖וּא | hahu' | <the> that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| כְּנַהֲמַת־ | kenahamat- | like [the] growling of | H5100 → | |
| יָ֑ם | yam | [the] sea | H3220 → | 396 times |
| וְנִבַּ֤ט | venibat | and someone will look | H5027 → | 69 times |
| לָאָ֙רֶץ֙ | laaretz | to the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וְהִנֵּה־ | vehineh- | and there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| חֹ֔שֶׁךְ | choshekh | darkness | H2822 → | 80 times |
| צַ֣ר | tzar | distress | H6862 → | 109 times |
| וָא֔וֹר | vaor | and light | H216 → | 121 times |
| חָשַׁ֖ךְ | chashakh | it has become dark | H2821 → | |
| בַּעֲרִיפֶֽיהָ׃ פ | baarifeiha | by clouds its | H6183 → |
וְיִנְהֹ֥םand it may growl
veyinhomH5098 →
עָלָ֛יוover it
ʾalavH5921 →5755 times
בַּיּ֥וֹםin the day
baiyomH3117 →2304 times
הַה֖וּא<the> that
hahu'H1931 →1879 times
כְּנַהֲמַת־like [the] growling of
kenahamat-H5100 →
יָ֑ם[the] sea
yamH3220 →396 times
וְנִבַּ֤טand someone will look
venibatH5027 →69 times
לָאָ֙רֶץ֙to the land
laaretzH776 →2504 times
וְהִנֵּה־and there!
vehineh-H2009 →843 times
חֹ֔שֶׁךְdarkness
choshekhH2822 →80 times
צַ֣רdistress
tzarH6862 →109 times
וָא֔וֹרand light
vaorH216 →121 times
חָשַׁ֖ךְit has become dark
chashakhH2821 →
בַּעֲרִיפֶֽיהָ׃ פby clouds its
baarifeihaH6183 →
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
Matthew 24:29Immediately after the tribulation of those days: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will…
it leads to
- Isaiah 13:10
For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. The rising sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Amos 8:9
And in that day, declares the Lord GOD, I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the daytime.
- Joel 3:15
The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will no longer shine.
- Isaiah 24:23
The moon will be confounded and the sun will be ashamed; for the LORD of Hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before His elders with great glory.
- Mark 13:24–25
But in those days, after that tribulation: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;
- Isaiah 13:10
Through
Joel 2:10Before them the earth quakes; the heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness.
it leads to
- Matthew 24:29
Immediately after the tribulation of those days: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will…
- Joel 3:15–16
The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will no longer shine.
- Psalms 18:7
Then the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains trembled; they were shaken because He burned with anger.
- Matthew 24:29
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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 Calvin, Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah; 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.