Isaiah 18:5

Isaiah 18:5 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches.
• New International Version (NIV)For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he will cut off the shoots with pruning knives, and cut down and take away the spreading branches.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For before the harvest, when the blossom is over, and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he cuts off the shoots with pruning hooks, and the spreading branches he lops off and clears away.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For before the harvest, when the bud is perfect And the sour grape is ripening in the flower, He will both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks And take away and cut down the branches.

Context of Isaiah 18:5

3All you people who live in the world, listen to this! You will see a battle flag on the mountains. You will hear the sound of a trumpet. 4This is what the Lord said to me: ‘I will watch quietly from my place. I will work quietly, like the heat that comes from the sun. I will be as quiet as the mist that comes at harvest time.’ Then, when the grapes on the vines are nearly ready for harvest, the Lord will cut them off! He will use his knife to cut off the branches. 6Like those branches, the dead bodies of the soldiers will lie in the fields. The wild animals and the vultures will come to eat them. The vultures will feed on them all through the summer. The wild animals will eat them all through the winter. 7At that time, the Lord Almighty will receive gifts from the people of that land. Many rivers cross that land. Its people are tall and their skin has no hair. Everyone is afraid of them. Their nation is strong and powerful. Those people will bring their gifts to Mount Zion. That is the place that the Lord Almighty has chosen for people to worship him there.

Isaiah 18:5 word by word

כִּֽי־לִפְנֵ֤י קָצִיר֙ כְּתָם־פֶּ֔רַח וּבֹ֥סֶר גֹּמֵ֖ל יִֽהְיֶ֣ה נִצָּ֑ה וְכָרַ֤ת הַזַּלְזַלִּים֙ בַּמַּזְמֵר֔וֹת וְאֶת־הַנְּטִישׁ֖וֹת הֵסִ֥יר הֵתַֽז׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• For aforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
• the harvestקָצִירqâtsîyr · harvestH7105
• when the budפֶּ֫רַחperach · flowerH6525
• is perfectתָּמַםtâmam · to finishH8552
• and the sour grapeבֹּ֫סֶרbôser · unripe grapeH1155
• is ripeningגָּמַלgâmal · to weanH1580
• in the flowerנִצָּהnitstsâh · flowerH5328
• he shall both cut offכָּרַתkârath · to cut: cutH3772
• the sprigsזַלְזַלzalzal · tendrilH2150
• with pruning hooksמַזְמֵרָהmazmêrâh · pruning-knifeH4211
• and take awayסוּרsûr ώûr · to turn aside: removeH5493
• cut downתָּזַזtâzaz · to strike awayH8456
• the branchesנְטִישָׁהneţîyshâh · tendrilH5189

Cross-references for Isaiah 18:5

• Isaiah 17:11You take care of them so that they grow quickly. They may even make flowers on the same morning that you plant them! But you will never have any fruit from them. You will only get trouble and pain that will never go away.
• Ezekiel 17:6The seed made a plant that grew well. It became a vine that grew near to the ground. The vine's branches turned up towards the eagle. Its roots went down into the ground. The vine grew with many new branches and leaves.

Commentaries on Isaiah 18:5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5The flower "The blossom" - Hebrews her blossom; נצה nitstsah, that is, the blossom of the vine, גפן gephen, vine, understood, which is of the common gender. See Genesis 40:10. Note, that by the defective punctuation of this word, many interpreters, and our translators among the rest, have been led into a grievous mistake, (for how can the swelling grape become a blossom?) taking the word נצה nitstsah for the predicate; whereas it is the subject of the…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5For afore the harvest - This verse is evidently figurative, and the image is drawn from that which is commenced in the previous verse. There, God is represented as calmly regarding the plans of the people here referred to - as the sun shines serenely on the herb, or the dew falls on the grass. “That” figure supposes that they had “formed” plans, and that they were advancing to maturity, like a growing harvest, while God surveyed them without…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5the flower becomes a ripening grape: Ethiopia had made every effort to form alliances to protect itself against Assyria, but its alliance with Judah would not help.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. For--rather, "But." perfect--perfected. When the enemy's plans are on the verge of completion. sour grape ... flower--rather, "when the flower shall become the ripening grape" [Maurer]. sprigs--the shoots with the grapes on them. God will not only disconcert their present plans, but prevent them forming any future ones. Horsley takes the "harvest" and vintage here as referring to purifying judgments which cause the excision of the ungodly from the…Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 18:5

• Branch
• Ethiopia
• Hooks
• Pruning

In the dictionaries

• Grape
• Knife
• Summer
• Booth
• Branch ;bough
• Ezekiel
• Flowers
• Harvest
• Hook
• Isaiah

Commentaries on Isaiah 18

• 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