Christian Standard Bible
Isaiah 7:18
18On that day the Lord will whistle to flies at the farthest streams of the Nile and to bees in the land of Assyria.
Isaiah 7:18 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
- New International Version (NIV)In that day the Lord will whistle for flies from the Nile delta in Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria.
- English Standard Version (ESV)In that day the Lord will whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
- New King James Version (NKJV)And it shall come to pass in that day That the Lord will whistle for the fly That is in the farthest part of the rivers of Egypt, And for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
Context of Isaiah 7:18
16For before the boy knows to reject what is bad and choose what is good, the land of the two kings you dread will be abandoned. 17The Lord will bring on you, your people, and your father’s house such a time as has never been since Ephraim separated from Judah: He will bring the king of Assyria.” On that day the Lord will whistle to flies at the farthest streams of the Nile and to bees in the land of Assyria. 19All of them will come and settle in the steep ravines, in the clefts of the rocks, in all the thornbushes, and in all the water holes. 20On that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates River — the king of Assyria — to shave the hair on your heads, the hair on your legs, and even your beards.
Read all of Isaiah 7Isaiah 7:18 word by word
וְהָיָ֣ה׀ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֗וּא יִשְׁרֹ֤ק יְהוָה֙ לַזְּב֔וּב אֲשֶׁ֥ר בִּקְצֵ֖ה יְאֹרֵ֣י מִצְרָ֑יִם וְלַ֨דְּבוֹרָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֖ר בְּאֶ֥רֶץ אַשּֽׁוּר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And it shall come to pass in that dayיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
- the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- shall hissשָׁרַקshâraq · to whistleH8319
- for the flyזְבוּבzebûb · flyH2070
- in the uttermost partקָצֶהqâtseh qêtseh · endH7097
- of the riversיְאֹרye'ôr · streamH2975
- of Egyptמִצְרַ֫יִםmitsrayim · EgyptH4714
- and for the beeדְּבוֹרָהdebôrâh debôrâh · beeH1682
- in the landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- of Assyriaאַשּׁוּר'ashshûr 'ashshûr · AssyriaH804
Cross-references for Isaiah 7:18
- Isaiah 5:26He raises a signal flag for the distant nations and whistles for them from the ends of the earth. Look — how quickly and swiftly they come!
- Isaiah 30:1Woe to the rebellious children! This is the Lord’s declaration. They carry out a plan, but not mine; they make an alliance, but against my will, piling sin on top of sin.
- Isaiah 31:1Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and who depend on horses! They trust in the abundance of chariots and in the large number of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel, and they do not seek the Lord.
- Exodus 8:21But if you will not let my people go, then I will send swarms of flies against you, your officials, your people, and your houses. The Egyptians’ houses will swarm with flies, and so will the land where they live.
- Deuteronomy 1:44Then the Amorites who lived there came out against you and chased you like a swarm of bees. They routed you from Seir as far as Hormah.
- Deuteronomy 7:20The Lord your God will also send hornets against them until all the survivors and those hiding from you perish.
- Joshua 24:12I sent hornets ahead of you, and they drove out the two Amorite kings before you. It was not by your sword or bow.
- Psalms 118:12They surrounded me like bees; they were extinguished like a fire among thorns; in the name of the Lord I destroyed them.
- Isaiah 7:17The Lord will bring on you, your people, and your father’s house such a time as has never been since Ephraim separated from Judah: He will bring the king of Assyria.”
- 2 Kings 23:33Pharaoh Neco imprisoned him at Riblah in the land of Hamath to keep him from reigning in Jerusalem, and he imposed on the land a fine of seventy-five hundred pounds of silver and seventy-five pounds of gold.
Commentaries on Isaiah 7:18
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18Hiss for the fly "Hist the fly" - See note on Isaiah 5:26. Egypt, and - Assyria - Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, Pharaoh-necho, and Nebuchadnezzar, who one after another desolated Judea.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18In that day the Lord shall hiss - see the note at Isaiah 5:26. For the fly - That is, for the army, or the multitude of people. The comparison of a numerous army with “flies” is not uncommon; see Homer‘s “Iliad,” B. ii. 469, etc. - Thick as insects play, The wandering nation of a summer‘s day. That, drawn by milky streams at evening hours In gathered swarms surround the rural bowers; From pail to pail with busy murmur run The gilded legions, glittering in…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-25Verses 17-25 Let those who will not believe the promises of God, expect to hear the alarms of his threatenings; for who can resist or escape his judgments? The Lord shall sweep all away; and whomsoever he employs in any service for him, he will pay. All speaks a sad change of the face of that pleasant land. But what melancholy change is there, which sin will not make with a people? Agriculture would cease. Sorrows of every kind will come upon all who…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18-25The phrase on that day refers to the future Day of the LORD, when God acts to judge and to save. Judah would first experience the judgment Isaiah had announced. This would be a warning of a greater judgment still to come. That greater judgment was the exile in Babylon from 586 to 538 BC.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1818. hiss--whistle, to bring bees to settle (see on Is 5:26). fly--found in numbers about the arms of the Nile and the canals from it (Is 19:5-7; 23:3), here called "rivers." Hence arose the plague of flies (Ex 8:21). Figurative, for numerous and troublesome foes from the remotest parts of Egypt, for example, Pharaoh-nechoh. bee--(De 1:44; Psa 118:12). As numerous in Assyria as the fly in marshy Egypt. Sennacherib, Esar-haddon, and Nebuchadnezzar fulfilled…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 7:18
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 7
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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